Always Been A Daughter
by Quills and Inkwells
Summary: AU post 1x15/5x15. It would suffice to say that being given a baby to take care of for an indefinite amount of time was not on Caroline Forbes' bucket list. However, with the Originals missing, a coven of witches after said baby, and literally no one else to take the job, everything was left up to her. In one moment, Caroline's life was forever changed, and for the better.
1. thoroughly affected, and quite confused

For a city of music, parties, and life, New Orleans seemed awfully dead. The city was just… Deserted. There was not any actual damage, but as Caroline stood in the middle of the French Quarter and twirled around, taking in her surroundings, it was almost as if she was standing on an abandoned movie set. The air was still. No noise was audible; not even with her super-sensitive vampire hearing. It was to the point where she was ready for a camera crew and Ashton Kutcher to pop out of an alleyway, saying she'd been Punk'd. At this rate, it would almost make more sense.

She had received a call from some crazy chick named Davina at three in the morning, saying she needed to get to New Orleans. Apparently the Originals had gone missing, someone had died, there was something going on with species, and basically, Caroline had told the girl she was on her way and to chill out before she hyperventilated herself to death. She had thrown some clothes and necessities in a suitcase, scribbled a note to Elena and Bonnie, and hopped in the car. By driving thirty miles over the speed limit—and compelling her way out of four tickets, which was a very useful perk—she had managed to make it in ten hours instead of the normal fourteen. Unfortunately, the Davina girl had refrained from informing her where exactly they should meet. Even now, Caroline was not entirely sure _why_ she had come to New Orleans. She just… She felt like she needed to come.

Going to the 'Recent Calls' button on her phone, Caroline called the number Davina had contacted her with back. It rang for a few seconds, and then there was a click. "Hello?" When there was affirmation of human life on the other end, she continued talking. "This is Caroline. You know, the chick you called at three o'clock this morning? Look, it's all fine. Anyways, I'm currently standing in the middle of the _ridiculously_ empty French Quarter, and I would love to know where to meet you. Um, what? Seriously? Look, I'd really like to know what on earth is going on." She sighed. "Okay. I've got the address. Bye!" Hanging up her phone, the vampire slipped it back into her purse and went back to her car. Apparently, she was _not_ supposed to head into the heart of the city. If only she had been warned of that beforehand. These were slightly important details to remember!

By the time Caroline finally got to the address Davina had given her—it led her to an apartment building on the other side of the city, and she had had to park a bit away and then walk up stairs and it was just a mess—she was irritable and exhausted. It was time for some answers. Knocking on the door, she was shocked by the sight which awaited her when it was answered. "Are you alright?" She asked, more than a bit disturbed. The woman who opened the door was spattered in blood, though it all smelled like it was a few hours old.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. We just got here and I haven't had time to change yet." She started walking off, before looking back at the young woman stuck on the threshold. "Oh, you can come in, by the way!"

"Thanks." Caroline glanced around. Clearly this woman knew the vampire protocol. "I'm Caroline, by the way. You're Davina, right?"

"Uh, no. I'm Camille, but you can call me Cami."

"I'm Davina." A voice called from another room. A petite brunette in a pretty dress floated in the room, holding a baby of all things. "I'm sorry I called at such a weird time, but it really was an emergency."

"About that…" Caroline followed the other two women back where Davina had come from. "Why am I here? I mean, I'm not entirely sure why I even came in the first place, but like the Mikaelsons are sort of my friends if you can call it that, and you know, if they die that doesn't bode very well for me or my friends so like… What's going on?"

"First of all, I'm a witch." The young lady said. "And I saw in a dream last night that you needed to come to New Orleans. It was important that I call _you_." Davina sighed.

"If you didn't notice, New Orleans is a wasteland." Cami cut in. "The city used to be under the control of Marcel, but when Klaus came to town, he wanted the power for himself." She stood up, looking for something around the room.

Caroline gave a huff. "As usual."

"I'm skipping a lot, but three days ago, the Originals went into an enchanted cemetery and never came out. Marcel and his men went into the place after it had been twenty-four hours with no word, but all they came out with was this." Cami held up a very familiar item. Caroline stood and snatched it out of the other blonde's hands.

"You shouldn't have that!" She shrieked, her eyes wide. She slipped it into her purse, and closed the latch. "That's a very special thing."

Davina took over the story this time. "The witches in this city have gone power crazy. They've taken over. The Originals are missing, M-marcel is dead," The girl choked up, and Caroline assumed Marcel was a member of her family or something, "and both Cami and I know it's because of the witches."

Caroline stood up and hefted her purse over her shoulder. "Look, I don't know who you two think I am, but I'm not here to help you take down a band of _witches_. I've been a vampire for just over a year. Find someone else better for the job."

"You're not here because we need your help." Davina shot back. "You're here to take the baby."

It was like someone had dropped a very heavy thing on Caroline's head. She felt dizzy for a moment and tunnel-vision was forming before she snapped out of it. "Excuse me? Why do I need to take some random baby?"

The brunette witch scoffed. "Okay. So I lied a bit when it came to actually getting you here."

"Explain…" Caroline snapped, her tone frigid. "And give me the real story this time."

"Fine." Davina crossed her arms. "I assume you already knew Klaus impregnated the werewolf Hayley, correct?"

The vampire arched an eyebrow, her tone turning frosty. "I was told by a friend, yes." More like Tyler, in a fit of rage after he found out she and Klaus had slept together. Yeah, that had been an eventful evening.

"Good. Well, that's who the baby is." Caroline's eyes opened wide and she stood up before pacing.

"Why isn't she with her mother?! Did Hayley run off on her kid? Because seriously, I could see her pulling something like that." The young vampire continued her pacing, emotions everywhere. They wanted her to take Klaus and _Hayley's_ child.

"Hayley died in childbirth. The baby was turned wrong and something happened… I don't really know. Either way, she hemorrhaged to death." Cami interjected. Caroline's mouth rounded in an 'o', and she lowered herself back down to the chair she had been sitting in. "From what she told me while I was delivering the baby, which I can tell you, I did _not_ learn while getting my psych degree, the child's a hybrid of some sort. She's supposed to be the downfall of the witches or something. I don't know much. Either way, it's no coincidence the only other existing family the baby has went missing right around Hayley's due date."

"I called you right around the time Hayley's labor turned bad." Davina said. "My coven figured out where Hayley had been staying a few hours earlier, and they expected on my assistance. They just didn't count on my playing turncoat—since they killed the only form of family I had left—and I informed Cami. We got Hayley to another location, but that must have upset something." She sighed, a young girl who had seen far too much in one evening. Caroline recognized that look, as she had seen it many times in the mirror. "I didn't know what else to do, so I went into a magically-induced dreamlike state, where I attempted to contact Klaus. I got you instead."

With that, Caroline looked down at her hands, a tinge of color flowing to her undead cheeks. Great. Even magic seemed to recognize her and Klaus's connection. Not that there really was one. "We're…friends." She summed up pathetically, not fooling anyone. "And then you called me here."

"And then I called you here." The witch agreed. They all sat in silence for a few moments, Caroline digesting the bomb just dropped on her, and Davina and Cami taking in the events of the past twenty-four hours. They were snapped out of their peace, however, when Caroline's hearing caught something.

"Is there any chance the witches might have figured out who took the baby? If there is, I think they just showed up." She looked at the two other women, and stood up when they sprang into action.

"My coven." Davina's voice was filled with doom. "Caroline, you need to take the baby and get out of here."

"I… I can't!" Caroline panicked. "I'm a college student. Why can't either of you?"

"They'll notice if we go missing. Davina's in their coven, and I'm connected with the human Faction and the vampires. You're an unknown, though. You need to take the baby and get out of here." Cami wrapped the child in another blanket and put her back in the baby basket she had been laying in during the entire time Caroline had been there.

The blonde vampire took a step back, hands raised in a defensive position. "The child will die if you don't take her!" Davina screeched. "I saw in the dream that it's supposed to be you!"

Loud footsteps started down the hall, and Caroline's eyes flickered between the baby and the door. "It's too late now!" She whispered.

Cami shoved the baby basket in her arms and pushed her towards a window. "There's a fire escape right there. Head up and towards the roof. They'll have the building surrounded, and with your vampire powers I'm sure you can jump somewhere."

"Will you two be safe?" Caroline asked, watching as Davina started making the place look as if she and Cami were just hanging out.

"We'll be fine." Cami said. "It's just vampires and werewolves they don't like. Now go!"

"Run, Caroline!" Davina urged. "The witches will come after the child. I've cloaked her for the time being, but I don't know how long it will last." And, well, she went with it. It was better to take the baby, rather than leave both of them to die by crazy witches. That was not on her bucket list.

Caroline breathed deeply and stepped out onto the fire escape, just as pounding started on the door. It was early March, and a bit of a breeze was present, so she briefly checked upon the child before crouching and launching herself up to the roof. Scanning around the base of the apartment building, she noticed a few witches stationed at various points. She would have to get farther away before heading down to the ground. Strategizing her next move, Caroline made sure the baby and her purse were secure—God, she had an actual _baby_ with her right now—before taking a running leap and onto the next rooftop. Two similar leaps later, she landed on the top level of the parking garage where she had left her car.

Adrenaline rushing through her veins, she sped down to where she was parked and quickly got inside the safety and familiarity of her vehicle. Then she looked down at the newborn who was ensconced in blankets in this baby basket thingy, and had a miniature panic attack. What the hell was she going to do with an effing baby?

Taking a deep breath, Caroline dared to actually _look_ at the little girl for the first time. She could see traces of Klaus in the baby, though maybe that was Rebekah's nose. Then again, all of the Mikaelsons favored each other ridiculously. The child appeared to have her mother's hair, as it was brown, and there was a lot of it; of course, this could be another Mikaelson trait. The young vampire ran a hand down her face, sighing. She didn't know what to do, but what she did know was that she couldn't let an innocent baby die. Besides, she and Klaus were a lot more than just friends, at least according to that really awesome day in the woods. Who knows…? If she had taken up his offer to go to New Orleans, she may have ended up being a part of this baby's life anyways… Maybe.

It was when she went to leave, however, that Caroline realized she was lacking important stuff. Like, a car seat. And diapers. Not to mention clothes… Looks like she was hitting the baby store before getting out of town.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Holy shit, I'm a fucking statistic." Caroline blurted to herself as she looked up at the looming thing they called a baby store. Then she glanced down at the newborn in the weird wicker thing labeled a "Moses Basket". Apparently, Google does have an answer for everything. "Sorry…baby. I'll try not to swear so much. But seriously, I'm going to look like one of the 30% of teenage girls who got pregnant and had a kid. And I learned this from health class so I'm right. I don't want to be a statistic like that." The child was asleep, as newborns often tend to be, and she shrugged it off.

As Caroline walked into the store, she was thankful it wasn't busy. If she looked as uncomfortable with this baby as she felt, then everyone would be able to tell that she was literally one of those teenage runaways with a baby like you see on the news and creepy ads online. And, now that she was on the run from some psycho coven of _witches_, conspicuousness was not what she wanted.

Browsing the shelves after briefly nodding to the bored-looking chick behind the register, and grabbing a cart, Caroline felt a weight sink into her stomach. How was she supposed to handle this? Like… This looked hard. Everything seemed to scream 'Get this to make your baby healthy' and it was basically overwhelming. "Okay." She calmed herself down, talking to both the baby and herself. "First order of business is diapers. Because frankly, that one on you is starting to smell. And then we need formula, and bottles too. And clothes. Lots of little adorable clothes." The clothes were actually going to be fun to shop for, if the racks and racks of cute little outfits were any indication. "At least whoever picked out your basket has good taste." Caroline shrugged. The basket was quite cute, with a delicate white lining, accented with pink ruffles and four green bows. "It was probably Rebekah. I may dislike your aunt a lot, but she at least has class. And I can't really see Klaus or Elijah going to a baby store." She giggled at the thought, before sighing. "What happened to them? I can't imagine they left you on purpose. And like… I can't even hunt them down, because I'm apparently _magically ordained_ to protect you because your dad—wow, that's a weird thought—has a thing for me and I may or may not reciprocate a teeny tiny bit. Or maybe quite a bit."

"Do you need any help, dear?" Caroline turned to the person behind her, startled. It was a woman in her late-forties, early-fifties, and she looked like a stereotypical grandmother type.

"Um, yes. I… I need the basics for a baby. Not like furniture or anything but just like the…other stuff…" She trailed off awkwardly, earning a confused look from the woman.

"Are you alright?" The lady asked, eyeing her car-rumpled clothes, and the baby's obvious newly-born status.

"Do I look alright?" Caroline reached her last nerve. "I just had a fuc—I mean freaking—baby dropped on me out of the middle of nowhere and she's the kid of the chick who stole my boyfriend, and the guy I sort of like even though I'm not supposed to! And I'm a freshman in college and I have a group of psycho witches after me, and I'm going out of my mind!" When the woman reached for the pager clipped on her belt, Caroline's instincts kicked in. She stepped around the cart, which was holding the baby, and made eye contact with the employee. "You are going to help me shop because I don't know what I'm doing, and then you're going to fix it so I get everything for free because I'm a very important person like that. Afterwards, you're going to forget you ever met me, and if anyone asks you about me or shows you a picture, you will tell them that you see a lot of blondes with babies, but you think I was asking about the closest airport, and was muttering something about getting out of the country. Got it?" When she repeated back the compulsion, Caroline nodded in relief. "Great! In that case, what do I get first?"

* * *

**AN: Hi everyone! If you all don't know who I am, I'm Abi, otherwise known as the author of _A Tree Called Life_ (shameless plug much?).Anyways, I mentioned the title of this summer fic a while back, and I felt like I should just give you all a bit of background info.**

**This story first came to my mind when I saw the spoiler pics for TVD 5x18, and we got the whole Mommy!Elena thingy. My mind works in mysterious ways, and for days all I could think about was what Mommy!Caroline would be like, and since the issue of her ever wanting or missing the fact that she can't have children anymore was never touched upon in the show, this fic was born. For those of you who know me, this story will be Klaroline, though it's really Caroline-centric overall.**

**I know there are probably a lot of questions to be had, so if you're confused about anything, please, ask me! I can be reached through reviews, PM, and on tumblr at lionheartedqueencaroline. My ask box is always open, so if you're confused about anything, or just want to chat, I'm completely available.**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I'll have chapter two up soon enough! :)**

**-Abi**


	2. the weight of worlds

Previously on ABaD: _"Great! In that case, what do I get first?"_

* * *

After four stops in which the baby needed to be fed, five nasty attempts at changing diapers, multiple YouTube videos, and one very long drive later, Caroline finally arrived at her childhood home after five in the morning, baby in tow. Unfortunately she was not quite lucky enough for her mom to be working the nightshift—of all the days, her mom had to be home—and sneaking in and out of the house undetected was going to be nearly impossible.

She managed to get in quietly enough, it was just when the newborn started to shriek at being awoken that Caroline knew she was busted. Yeah, those lungs definitely were an indicator of the kid's heritage. "Mom, it's just me!" She yelled over the squalling baby, as her mom came into the kitchen, gun aimed at her.

"Caroline?" Liz shook her head, lowering the pistol. "What the hell are you doing with a baby?"

"Mom, I can explain…" Caroline started off feebly, bouncing the baby slightly to get her to quiet down.

"I sure hope you can, young lady! Do you realize what time it is? And where on earth did you get the baby? Please tell me you didn't steal it." Liz crossed her arms, giving her daughter her best sheriff-face.

"Seriously?" The younger blonde, unable to gesture with her occupied arms, made a wounded expression. "I wouldn't steal a baby!" Then again, she sort of did. Or did the fact that a crazy teenager and some other chick gave it to her count as not stealing? "Okay, so I didn't actually _steal_ the baby, but I did like…take her." After seeing her mother's unimpressed expression, she elaborated. "She was given to me. Um, you remember the bitc—I mean, annoying—little twit of a werewolf that Tyler flaunted around town?" God, the whole non-swearing thing was getting annoying. Then again, it was probably better in the long run. It would not do to corrupt the kid.

"Hally or Holly or something with an H." Liz arched an eyebrow. "I remember her."

"Right. Well, apparently somehow or another Klaus of all people knocked her up, and here we are!" Caroline raised up the baby and smiled a cheesy grin. "Anyways, I got this call from some witch down in New Orleans, and like the Originals went missing, and the backstabbing werewolf died in childbirth, and I'm apparently the supernaturally fated protector for this kid due to some dream-meditation-thingy. Now I've got a coven of psycho witches on my trail, so I was just going to stop by here and get clothes and a few other things." Caroline said all this really quickly as she headed through the den to her bedroom, her mother on her heels. She placed the baby basket down on her bed, and then the baby inside it.

"Excuse me, young lady? Were you even going to tell anyone where you were going?"

"Nope." She retorted. "It's safer that way. Well, I was going to tell _you_ the whole story, but I have a cover story planned for everyone else. Look in my purse, it's in there." Caroline set the Moses basket down on her bed, and proceeded to grab a suitcase out of her closet and throw items into it.

"Caroline, what is this?" Liz held up the object she had snatched from Cami. "Is this…"

"Yeah, Mom." Caroline sighed. "It's the white oak stake. The lady who gave me her," She nodded towards the baby, "had it. At least I know they aren't dead, right? Because otherwise, I wouldn't be alive-ish, you know?" The young lady shrugged and went back to her packing, attempting to take her mind off of everything. If she did not, she was going to lose it.

Liz found the letters beneath the stake and read over them. "So, you're just going to tell everyone else you're going on a study abroad program? Won't they all be suspicious?"

"Hmm, I really wish I had more of my college wardrobe." Caroline held up two dresses, and compared them, before throwing them both into her garment bag. "Please, mom, none of them are going to buy the story. I'm like the queen of goodbye parties; the last thing I would normally do is leave like this. I give them 24 hours to put together a logical plan to come after me, which is why you're going to delay giving them the letter for a few days, just so I can get a bit of a head start." When she received a questioning look from her mother, which was basically all she had been getting during the past fifteen minutes since she walked in the door, the blonde went to clarify. "I'm heading to New York City. Over eight million people live there; two more won't even be a blip on the radar. I'll be using your maiden name instead of Forbes, at least publicly. I'll also be legally naming the baby the same way, though I think I'll have two birth certificates made up, so that she will still be recognized as a Mikaelson. I'm going to compel myself an apartment in a safe area, and then I'm going to find a really powerful witch to cloak both the kid and me from any locator spells." She paused to take a breath. "I had considered getting out of the country, or even heading to like backwoods Montana or something, but newcomers can't go unnoticed there. And besides, I'm kind of tired of small towns."

"You certainly seem to have everything planned out." Liz remarked dryly.

"I had twelve hours to figure out a plan, and all the details were hammered out by the end of hour five. We took a feeding break at a Starbucks around hour seven, and I had a couple of grad students type the letters up for me. I've already made a reservation at a hotel in New York, thank god I had the presence of mind to grab my laptop and stuff before I left Whitmore, and we'll probably hole up in there for a few days while the whole apartment-and-witch-hunt thing is going on." Caroline stopped to take a breath, looking around her room. She grabbed a box from under the bed and started packing some personal items, remembering to grab a certain bracelet and drawing from her nightstand drawer. She was like a sunny tornado, whipping around her childhood bedroom left and right, and the stress was rolling off of her in waves.

"Caroline!" Her mother finally put a stop to the whole thing. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? How long is this 'protector' role of yours going to last? Is the baby even human? Are you prepared to take care of this kid for years?"

"No, mom, I'm not!" She came to a halt, her arms full of some of her favorite books and movies. "All I know is that around one o'clock yesterday afternoon, I was handed a baby and told to run. And that's what I did. Whoever is out to catch that little baby," She nodded towards baby who was awake and appeared to be observing them as she lay in her basket "took out the three most powerful beings on the planet, and it scares me to death. The only reason I know they aren't dead is because I'm still walking, and I've got the one thing that can kill them with me. I don't know how long I'm expected to care for this baby, or if she's supernatural or not, but I do know that I essentially became a parent during the past twenty four hours, and it is a responsibility that I am taking very seriously. So yes, I'm going out of my mind right now, but I have a duty to fulfill, and I will stick with it as long as needed."

When Liz gave her that look, Caroline felt as if her mother was really _seeing_ her for the first time in years. "When did you grow up and become a woman?"

"When someone helped me realize I was worth more than the world." Caroline went to clarify, noticing the confusion on her mother's face. "Klaus. Klaus was the first person who told me that I could be more than just the former Miss Mystic Falls for the rest of my life. And when I came to terms with that fact, that's when I grew up." She placed the last pair of shoes in her bag, and zipped it closed, ignoring the look her mother was giving her. "Okay, that's all. I really need to get on the road… I have roughly eight hours of drive time ahead of me, especially since we're going to hit morning rush hour, and then she's going to need to eat at least two or three times during that period."

"Even though you seem intent upon leaving your whole life behind, I am still your mother, and therefore I have some rules." Liz crossed her arms and fixed her daughter with her best 'bad-cop' face. "I'm not going to be unreasonable, and say that you need to call me every day, but I do expect to hear from you at least once a week."

"I can do that." Caroline shrugged. "I don't want to just leave you behind, you know?"

"Good. And I want to visit on holidays. I'll come up with some excuse for work, but you can expect me at least on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and your birthday. We'll also work something out for this summer." Caroline nodded in agreement. "I'll 'find' your letter in a few days, and keep your cover story intact. I do recommend that you email them every so often, though, because I know you're going to miss them. Plus, it will keep their searching for you to a minimum, if they know you're still alive and well."

Caroline pursed her lips before rushing to hug her mom, squeezing her tightly. "I'm going to miss you, Mom."

Liz brushed the back of her daughter's head. "I'm going to miss you too, sweetie." She stepped back and sat on the bed. "Now, go put your things in the car and change, and I'll watch the baby for you."

"Are you sure?" She asked, picking up the bags.

"Honey, you're going to wish you had help in about a week's time. Take it while you can." Liz shooed her daughter off. She turned to the baby, who was blinking her blue eyes lazily. "Now, for a psychopathic father, and, according to my daughter, a less-than-favorable mother, you are a cute little thing, aren't you?"

-0-0-0-0-0-

It had been, without a doubt, the most tiring four days of Caroline Forbes's existence. And that was counting the days she had been planning prom while there was a crazy mind-altering ancient witch guy on the loose, which was saying something. Who knew babies could be so effing hard to take care of? She had been running on two-hour snatches of sleep for the past four days, and that was after being up and doing a bunch of driving for nearly forty-eight hours straight. Yeah, not a good combination.

They were finally moving into a nice two-bedroom apartment in, yes, the Upper West Side. It may be above and beyond what Caroline could ever afford, but there was a little perk called compulsion that she possessed, and if she was going to uproot her entire life, she was going to live nicely, damn it. Caroline was all for supporting the economy, but if she had to pick between living in a scary, but affordable, apartment in the middle of like…Harlem, or a very, very, pretty apartment in a safe area with a bunch of fun amenities that came with the building, there was no choice. Besides, whoever owned the building was getting a ton of money from everyone else anyways, and it was not like getting a roommate was an option.

The past few days had involved a lot of baby-toting and running around, not to mention a ton of compulsion, which had taken a lot out of Caroline. Thankfully, she managed to make a blood-bank run, and had gotten enough for a few days, but it was going to be next-to-impossible to do a run every week with a baby in tow. Back in Mystic Falls, when she needed more bloodbags, Caroline just stopped by the Boarding House and grabbed a few. Now, she was facing the imminent prospect of having to fresh-feed, and how was that supposed to happen with a kid, anyways?

She had managed to find a witch to cloak her and the baby, though that had involved a bunch of shady alleyways and a lot of groveling. Not to mention the three false witches she had been to, before she found one who actually knew what a cloaking spell was. One of them had even started muttering nonsense into a literal crystal ball, and Caroline had hauled the kid out of there quickly. Unfortunately the spell had an expiration date, which meant she got to make a trip back to the crazy Cassiopeia Freder every year. What a joy.

The one actual good thing that had happened during the past week was when Caroline finally picked a name for the baby. A pretty large part of her had hoped that she would receive a call from one of the Mikaelsons, saying they were going to take this baby off of her hands, but after the kid had been alive and nameless for nearly a week, Caroline figured it was about time. She decided upon the name Margret, with the middle name of Rebekah, and it had been a pretty difficult choice. Caroline had toyed with a few other names, but she wanted the baby to be named after a family member, and to have a fairly old-sounding name. After all, the baby's family had been Viking settlers in the New World… A hip and cool name was not going to cut it. And, well, the other female Mikaelson just would not be appropriate to name the baby after. Caroline did not figure that naming a baby after her filicide-attempting grandmother would be very…suitable. Oh, the Mikaelson family was screwed up, to say the least.

In their new life, they would be masquerading as Caroline and Margret Walters. If by some crazy chance, the witches did manage to find out who she was, Caroline was not going to take any risks. Mikaelson was still on Margret's real birth certificate, but on the alternate she had compelled, it left the father's name blank and put her false name in the mother's spot, instead of Hayley. The real certificate had been placed in a safe-deposit box, which Caroline had compelled the bank attendants to never open unless by her personal request. She had not yet made up the details of a backstory yet, but she knew she would have to come up with one soon enough.

Caroline stepped into her new apartment, baby seat on one arm and her purse on the other, taking in the empty space. The furniture company would be delivering everything within a few hours, and then there was just minor stuff like a bit of shopping to do within the next few days.

"Well, Margret," She had made a point of addressing the baby by her name, as Caroline had read somewhere online that it helped with like cognitive development or something, "this is going to be home from now on!" Caroline sat the seat on the floor gently, and lowered herself beside it, letting her purse flop over, dropping the diaper bag beside it. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, reaching over and softly rocking the seat when Margret began to cry. "I'm going to be brutally honest and just tell you right now that I'm probably going to be terrible at this. I'm a vampire who's stuck eternally at seventeen, and I don't know what on earth I'm going to do with you. My parents weren't really there for me after like I was ten, and I certainly don't feel like I have it together, and I was definitely _not_ ready for you. So like… This is an apology in advance. If you need therapy later in life because of me—that is, if your biological family doesn't drive you to it first—then really, I'm sorry. I don't want to mess you up." The lady ran a hand over her face and started to cry softly, the weight of the past week hitting her all at once. "You're only a little baby, and all you have is me. I can't fail you. I can't do it."

* * *

**AN: I swear, you readers never cease to amaze me. Just... The amazing response and support you all gave just the _first chapter_ in itself is still blowing me away.**

**I figured I should clear something up that I left out of last chapter on accident... The item Caroline got from Cami was the white oak stake. And that comes up in the future, so it needed to be clarified. **

**Anyways, what did you all think of this chapter? I'm about five chapters ahead in writing, so the story dynamic has changed a bit where I am now, which is why I love to see what you all think. I love writing Caroline's internal monologue, and it's my first time writing solely in one POV, so if I get things wrong, please excuse them. I'm only a high school student, after all! Haha. **

**Caroline and Liz's relationship is pretty important in this story, as the title _Always Been A Daughter_ applies to both Caroline and Margret. And, yes, I think there might be a few of you who wish I had named the baby Hope after canon!BabyMikaelson, but since Margret was named shortly after I started planning this story, that was before the actual baby was named, and I happen to think my name for her is a bit more original. So yeah. It's not changing. Also, there was a Margaret in the Forbes family, and the name means Light, so I figured it was a good name. I use the alternate spelling because that's how it's spelled when it comes from a Scandinavian/Nordic area, if anyone cared to know.**

**Anyways, send me your opinions, and if there are any questions to be had, I can be reached via PM, review, or tumblr. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**-Abi**

******PSA: I'll be updating on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Just so everyone knows. :)**


	3. turning a house into a home

Previously on AbaD: _"You're only a little baby, and all you have it me. I can't fail you. I can't do it."_

* * *

"Did you take my nose?" Caroline made an exaggerated surprised-face, miming not being able to find her nose. The one year old sitting in front of her burst into peals of high-pitched giggles. "You're so silly, Meggie!" She tickled the little girl, laughing along. They were laying on the floor of their living room, just playing with each other. It was a few days after Margret's first birthday, and in the past year, so much had changed.

Caroline was more than aware that during the first month or so of living with Margret, she had little-to-no solid emotional connection with the baby. She treated her perfectly well, and did her best to be nurturing, but connecting with the little girl had been a hard thing to do. Caroline had to reconcile herself with the fact that Margret did not bear her mother's grievances, or the less-than-desirable parts of her father's character. She also had to come to terms with the reality of possibly being a parent for a very long time. She had not exactly had much time to look into what had happened to the Originals, but what Caroline did research, she found nothing. It was like those three had disappeared off of the face of the earth. After a couple of months, though, she had fallen in love with the darling baby she was given. It was honestly hard to _not_ love Margret, and while the transition from college student to single mother had been the most difficult thing Caroline had faced, she took it all in stride.

Throughout their first year together, the vampire and the baby had settled into a bit of a routine. Caroline had started taking a few online college courses, as having a degree was important to her, no matter how many times she could theoretically get one over the course of her unending lifetime. Either way, it gave her something to do other than parent all day long, and as someone who thrived on being eternally busy, Caroline enjoyed it. She had also joined a group where she could socialize with other single mothers while the kids played, and worked twice a week at this old, family-run, antique shop a few blocks over that let her bring Margret with her.

* * *

The blonde had also more-or-less fallen into a book club during that first summer, and the group had basically adopted her and Margret. Seriously, those ladies had been her lifesavers. They were all women who were alone after one or another life circumstances, though a couple of the ladies had children and grandchildren who lived far away. They just…took her and Margret in, and really, had become dear friends. Caroline had been close with her grandmother before she died when she was ten, and the relationship she had with the five older ladies was something like that. It was something she had not realized she had missed, frankly.

It had all started quite oddly, to be frank. Caroline had walked into a coffee shop around the corner from her apartment building one day, about to collapse from a lack of sleep and coffee, the baby wailing like no tomorrow. Margret had been cutting teeth all week, and Caroline figured she had maybe gotten ten hours of sleep total during the past few days. When she had walked into the little place, however, she never expected what actually happened.

A group of older women—all in their mid-to-late sixties—had taken pity on her for some reason and beckoned her over. At that point, Caroline had been too exhausted to care about the fact that they could all be evil baby-hunting witches, and joined them. They had taken Margret out of her arms, sat her in a chair, and then went right back to discussing their book. After the discussion was over, they introduced themselves and got to talking with her. Feeling particularly vengeful due to her lack of sleep, when the conversation got around to the relationship between Caroline and Margret's father, an evil plot hatched in her mind.

"He's overseas, serving with the Peace Corps or something like that. Unfortunately, we went through a nasty breakup right beforehand and I have no way of contacting him about the baby." Right. Like Klaus of all people would _ever_ serve in the Peace Corps. That was about as likely as Stefan ditching the bunny diet. However, Caroline kept the irony of her cover story to herself—it was much more fun than the boring one night stand story she had previously concocted—and simply smiled sweetly. Besides, it was a nice story.

"Oh, you poor dear." One of the ladies, named Helena, patted her on the arm. "I was in the Peace Corps back in the seventies. Best experience of my life. His term will soon be up, and then you will be able to tell him."

"I hope so." Caroline smiled. She did actually hope that Klaus—or any of the Mikaelsons—would show up. While she loved Margret, the little girl deserved to know her biological family. She turned to Navya, a white-haired Indian lady who had worked magic and somehow gotten Margret to be perfectly quiet for the entire meeting. Seriously, at this point, it was a miracle. "Are you sure you don't mind holding her? I can take her back."

"Nonsense. My grandchildren live too far away to see them, and I enjoy the little ones. Besides, she is a beautiful baby." She replied, tickling the little girl's tummy.

"Where did she get her pretty hair from?" Another one of the women asked, causing Caroline to mentally wince. Out of all the traits Margret had from her parents, it seemed the only thing Hayley gave her was the thick crop of perfectly wavy brown hair on her head. Which, actually was not bad a thing. Hayley had had good hair.

"His side." She faked, thankful that there were brunettes in Klaus's family. After all, it would be exceedingly difficult to explain to all of the ladies that Margret was actually not her child, and instead was the kid of a thousand-year old vampire-werewolf hybrid, and a teenage werewolf. Yeah, that would go over well. And then maybe she would end up in a mental institution.

After that, book club meetings were marked on the big calendar which hung in the kitchen, and Margret and Caroline became faithful attendees.

-0-0-0-0-0-

It would suffice to say that Year Two for Caroline and Margret went a lot easier than Year One. Or, at least, it was less tumultuous. Things had settled down quite a bit by then, and the most pressing thing on Caroline's mind was the beginning of the Terrible Two's. Her parenting books—of which there was a shelf dedicated to in the living room—had all warned about this terrible stage in a child's life, and as Margret approached her second birthday, Caroline felt doom approaching. Then again, that could have also been from the fact that she had started potty training the little girl as well, which was like the most interesting experience ever.

At first, Caroline thought maybe they had managed to avoid the dreaded childhood stage; after all, Margret was a fairly well-behaved child, and while she had a penchant to go after what she wanted, she generally did not throw _that_ many tantrums. Of course, no parenting book could have prepared Caroline for the reality of her child turning into a baby _wolf_. Yes, that is correct; a wolf. Like, a full on fuzzy-fur-and-barking baby wolf. Apparently, part of the whole born hybrid deal was that Margret got the marvelous ability to turn painlessly, and she did so when she was in raging-tantrum mode. Oh, and in thunderstorms. Maybe it was the whole werewolf-gene-thingy, but the little girl was _terrified_ of thunderstorms.

The first time it had happened, Caroline had freaked out and contemplated rushing her to a hospital. Margret had been temperamental all day, protesting anything and everything, but she let it go because it was close to the full moon. She had not even wanted to go to the park, and that kid _loved_ going to the park. Of course, she was two, and therefore did not exactly get a choice in the matter, but nevertheless. It all came to a head that evening, when Caroline tried to get the child into bed.

"Meggie, it's bedtime." She stood up, and tried to scoop the wriggling child off of the sofa. "It's time to get your pajamas on."

"No!" Margret pouted, scooting away. "No bedtime, Mama."

"Margret, Mama says it is bedtime, so it is. Now obey, or it will be the naughty corner for you." Caroline sighed. Bedtime was a nightly battle between the two, as the child just wanted to go and go and go constantly, and, well, that was not going to happen under her watch. Proper bedtimes were a must-have for her sanity.

"No!" She screamed, looking like a very irritated little elf as she crossed her arms. Margret may have been born a Mikaelson, but that expression was all Caroline.

"That's it." Caroline said, rolling her eyes exasperatedly as the child ran away from her, shrieking about 'no bedtime'. "We don't scream, Margret. Now, please obey me." She followed the screaming kid into the kitchen, looking for the brunette little munchkin with a short temper. Instead of a child, however, she found a perfectly confused baby…wolf… tangled in a tiny pile of clothes on the floor. Caroline stood shocked as she watched the puppy attempt to stand, then fall on its face, legs splayed every which-way. "Oh god." Her eyes went wide. "How on earth am I supposed to deal with this?"

Needless to say, Margret ending up changing back into a little girl, as it was discovered when Caroline woke up the next morning with—instead of a puppy beside her—the little girl she knew and loved. And she did not even end up having to visit Crazy Cassiopeia to fix Margret, which was a relief. After that incident, Margret never protested bedtime again.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Caroline bit down into the man's neck, relishing the rush which came with feeding fresh. She had just dropped off Margret at her Mom's Morning Out program, where she went once a week to go play with other kids, and do crafts, and all of that. It was times like these when Caroline fed fresh, and then sometimes managed to make a bloodbag run or two, just getting enough to last her the week. During the first couple of years, Caroline had had to feed solely on people, and it had been a…hassle, to say the least. She had been reduced to feeding in restaurant bathrooms, putting Margret where the child could not see what she was doing. But, now that Margret was older, Caroline had had to find a new way to handle things. Therefore, this method worked, and it was way less trouble than the previous one.

Caroline continued sucking down the lifeblood which gushed into her mouth, loving every moment of it. Fresh-feeding was so much better tasting than the bagged stuff, and it definitely kept her energized for longer. When you have a rambunctious three year old, energy is a must-have. Besides, it felt good to indulge in her vampiric side. It had taken a while to come to terms with the fact that fresh-feeding was _okay,_ but Caroline had been doing it for a lot longer than that. When it's feed on live people or starve because you can't make a bloodbag run with a newborn, you feed on live people, even when you hate it. Either way, now she did not mind doing so. She pulled back and wiped her mouth, compelling the guy to go home, take an iron pill, and then sleep for a while.

"Well, well, well. I never thought I would see the day." Caroline's stomach dropped. She knew that voice. She just had to play it off; after all, she still had like two hours before she had to go pick up Margret.

"Damon." The lady turned around, shooing the other guy away. "Just the person I didn't want to see."

"You're supposed to be in Nepal, or wherever the hell you told everyone you were going." Damon crossed his arms, ever-present smirk on his face.

"You're supposed to be _in_ hell, where the rest of the assholes like you belong." She smiled sweetly. Caroline picked her purse up off of where she set it, and walked past him out into the street. "So why don't you go take a long walk off the nearest bridge, and leave me alone." She didn't get very far, however, because he grabbed her forearm and yanked her back to look at him.

"You aren't getting away that easily, Blondie. I want answers, and you're the only one who can give them to me." They glared at each other for a good thirty seconds, before Caroline sighed.

"Fine. One hour, and that's all you're getting. After that you leave me alone."

"Fine." He shrugged, laughing at her scowl.

"How did you find me?" Caroline asked as they walked through Central Park. "And don't say you just ran into me because we both know it isn't true."

Damon laughed, eyebrow raised as if the answer was obvious. "Please, it was almost too easy. Liz never took a day off of work in her life, and then a few months after her daughter disappears out of the middle of nowhere, she's leaving town during the summer and the holidays. It was just a matter of figuring out where you went, and since I had business in the city anyways, I decided to do a bit of digging." He paused for a moment, chuckling. "I mean, a study-abroad trip I could believe. But leaving in the middle of the night? Not even packing up your dorm? We all knew there was another motive behind your leaving."

"I wanted to get away. I couldn't take the drama and constant near-death experiences of Mystic Falls anymore. I'm happy now." Caroline retorted sharply, using the concocted excuse she had formulated for a situation like this. She had always known they would find her eventually, but she was a little bit surprised it had taken them three years to do so. Thankfully Margret was not with her. That would have just…complicated things.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and drag your sorry ass back to Mystic Falls." He crossed his arms. "I don't blame you for getting out while you could, though your method was shit."

"How long did you all look for me?" She checked her phone again. Twenty minutes left until she needed to leave to have time to grab bloodbags and then pick up Margret.

"A couple of months. Elena and Judgy were annoyingly persistent, and with Stefan behind them on the 'Save Caroline' train, I couldn't really say no. Of course, no one seemed willing to listen to my logic, which was, 'She left, therefore she doesn't want to be found'."

"And yet, here you are." Caroline sighed. "Remind me why I'm putting up with your company again?"

"Because you secretly miss Mystic Falls, and you have nothing to do in-between now and whenever you have to go get your little ankle-biter, I presume. Not that I ever placed you as the motherly type, but people change." When Caroline stopped dead in her tracks, deathly pale, Damon rolled his eyes. "No need to be dramatic, Blondie. You keep checking your phone, and the background is a picture of you and a kid. Not to mention that you've totally traded in 'cheerleader' for 'mom'. All signs indicate you're living with a little kid; most likely a girl, judging by the picture." He laughed when she continued to blink. "Yes, I'm devilishly handsome and highly intelligent. We can skip the owl imitation and move on."

When Caroline managed to regain her senses, she went into protective-mother-bear mode. "You cannot tell anyone. Seriously, Damon, anyone. My mom knows, but she's the only other person who does."

"And why would that be?" He did the eye-thing, but she resisted the information-mongering he was doing. God, when had Damon gotten so nosy?

"I can't tell you that either." She sighed. "So don't bother asking."

"Caroline." Damon stopped her and they faced each other. "If you're in trouble, tell me. I may think you're an annoying little twit the majority of the time, but you're on my short list."

"I'm fine." The lady said calmly. And, she was. "Truly, I am. It's nothing you need to worry about." Caroline looked down at her phone. She had to go now if she was going to make the bloodbag run, which needed to happen today. "Look, I've really go to go. So… I guess it wasn't terrible seeing you."

"Wasn't terrible seeing you either, Blondie." He smirked that panty-dropping smirk of his, causing her to narrow her eyes.

"And you won't tell anyone? About me or…"

"Just be glad it was me who found you. Anyone else wouldn't be able to keep their mouth shut." He nodded curtly.

"I still hate you." Caroline crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the pavement impatiently.

"Good. Someone needs to."

She promptly turned her back on the much older vampire, and walked off. God, Damon Salvatore was infuriating. But still, she knew she could count on him to keep his mouth shut. It was one of his exceedingly few redeeming qualities.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Mommy, Mommy, how did I do?" Caroline laughed as a little brunette force of nature collided with her knees. She had just finished watching her daughter's first ever ballet performance, in which she played a mouse in the production of _The Nutcracker_. In fact, Margret was still dressed in her costume, hair pulled back in a tight bun, stage makeup caking her little face.

"You were the prettiest girl on the stage, sweetheart." Caroline took the dance bag one of the backstage moms handed to her, smiling. "Thanks, Mandy. Was she good back there?" She nodded towards her little girl, who was now chattering on with one of her classmates.

"She did perfectly. In fact, she was making sure everyone else got in a _very straight line_ when they were lining up." The other mom laughed, doing a fairly good impression of Margret's 'bossy voice'.

"I blame my control freak tendencies on that one." Caroline joined in, giggling. "Anyways, thanks for watching her back there so I could see a performance. Tell Leah we'll be here around four tomorrow for Round 2, okay?"

"Will do, Caroline. Have a good evening!" Mandy waved, disappearing back into backstage as Caroline grabbed Margret's hand.

"You too!" The blonde nodded. "Okay, now how about we go stop for ice cream? After all, prima ballerinas deserve a treat, don't you think?" She took the heavy coat out of the dance bag and bent down.

"Yes! Ice cream Mommy!" Margret bounced on her toes, mouse ears flopping, as Caroline struggled to get the girl in her coat. "I want chocolate. With lots of sprinkles!"

"Chocolate it is, then!" Caroline buttoned the last two buttons, and pulled the mouse ears off before tucking them safely away. She then grabbed a pair of earmuffs, and put them on her little imp before hoisting the child onto her hip. They were going to need to grab a taxi instead of walking, especially since it was starting to snow.

It had been nearly five years since Caroline had adopted—for that was what she called it now—Margret, and frankly, it had been the best years yet. She had never placed herself as one to want children, especially since her parents had done a less-than-stellar job at raising her, but she did not regret one moment of the past few years. True, some memories were not all that pleasant, but it had all worked out fine in the end. Just because she started out this journey a complete emotional wreck with no clue about what she was doing, did not mean she could not make it work, in the end.

And, though it may not be the end, Caroline figured she was doing pretty well. Her mom had been…brilliant, to say the least. Liz had even surprisingly bonded with Margret over the past years, and the two got along marvelously whenever she came to visit. From the distinct lack of friends showing up on her doorstep, Caroline assumed that Damon had kept their run-in to himself, which was always a relief. The last thing she, or Margret, needed was to be dragged back to Mystic Falls. Besides, she still emailed her friends every so often, though they had all moved on with their lives during the past few years. She had also graduated from college, having come out of the place with a major in humanities and a minor in art history. And, if Caroline was being particularly flattering to herself, she had done a damn good job raising a kid amongst all that. A kid who had turned out quite lovely, if a bit opinionated, and more than a bit energetic.

It had been a good nearly-five years.

* * *

**AN: So, how did you all like it? The real plot of this story kickstarts in the next chapter, but I wanted to show both the relationship between Caroline and Margret, as well as a summary of their years together, which is how this chapter was born. In original drafts of this story, I had not included this chapter, and instead just did a five year time jump, but this works better. So yeah.**

**Anyways, tell me what you all think! I put the whole Damon scene in there because out of everyone in their little group in Mystic Falls, he would be the only one to be able to like...keep her secret, and leave, at the end of the day. Stefan, because he and Caroline are such close friends, would have either wanted to stay or bring her back to Mystic Falls, and the same would have gone for Bonnie or Elena. Plus, I love their sassy interactions on the show, and I felt it was important to show that Caroline still was her snarky old self. That's why that is in there. Oh, and he does _not_ know that Caroline's child is a Mikaelson by birth. **

**Next chapter starts about a year after the final scene of this chapter, a few days before Thanksgiving, 2017. And, well, Caroline runs into an old...friend, if you could call them that. That's all I'm going to say...**

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I'm still blown away by the amazing response you all have given me.**

**-Abi**


	4. darling, please don't grow up

Previously on ABaD: _'It had been a good nearly-five years.'_

* * *

"Mommy, can I bring my scrapbook to Show and Tell?" Margret chirped from where she sat at the breakfast table, sipping orange juice while she waited for her breakfast.

"Sure, sweetie. Which one?" Caroline turned, eyebrow raised. She knew a trap when her nearly-six year old laid one, and this was definitely a trap.

The child sighed, and crossed her arms. "The yellow one. About my daddy and his family."

Her mother took the eggs out of the pan, and put them on a plate. Delivering them in front of her daughter, she sighed. "Meg, you know why you can't take that one to school."

"But it has better pictures, Mommy." She said around a mouthful of food.

"We chew with our mouths closed." Caroline gently reminded, taking a sip from her mug of blood. "Do you remember the conversation we had a few months ago? About how Mommy's a vampire, and how you're a hybrid, and you can't tell anyone?" Margret nodded. "Alright, well that's why. Because it's a very special secret that we can't tell anyone about, and your yellow book tells all about it."

"But I like it better." Margret sighed, pushing her bottom lip out.

"I'm sorry, but you can't take it. You may take your pink scrapbook, or you may choose something else." Caroline offered, standing up from where she had sat down. "Now, hurry up and finish your breakfast while I finish getting ready. You can't be late on your last day before Thanksgiving break, after all!"

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Caroline and Margret were walking to school. The former carried the pink scrapbook which chronicled their life together in pictures and little mementoes, and Margret grasped her mother's hand, backpack bouncing as she walked swiftly in the hurried traffic. She was dressed in a little blue polo and khaki skirt, which was the uniform of her private school, a blue headband holding back her hair. She really was a darling little girl, with Klaus's eyes, and quite a few other Mikaelson traits.

Her very existence caused Caroline to think about the girl's father. It was hard to escape him, after all, when his drawing was framed in Margret's room, and his bracelet rested in her jewelry box, and she was surrounded daily by his presence throughout his daughter. She found it to be a shame that he did not know his child, for she was amazing. It was why Caroline had done her best to tell Margret stories of the Original Family, or at least what she knew of them. The scrapbook was full of all which Caroline could find upon the family throughout history, as well as a few pictures her mother had found of them through Mystic Falls' newspapers and town records. Rebekah had been in the cheer squad yearbook picture, so that was in there, and apparently Elijah had worked with the Historical Society at one point, and there had even been a picture of the whole family someone had managed to snap at the infamous Mikaelson Family Ball. Caroline had also managed to find a picture from the school newspaper of her and Klaus at the 1920's Decade Dance, and it wasn't even that bad of a picture. It actually was quite flattering, though perhaps it would have been better in color. It captured the two of them when he was spinning her at one point, and, well, Caroline quite liked that photograph.

Over the past few years—six, in March, to be exact—Caroline had searched for the Originals. She had not exactly been able to _go_ anywhere and look for them, but she had done a bit of digging through some vampires she had hired. Unfortunately, nothing turned up. In fact, it seemed as if the three immortal beings had vanished off of the face of the earth.

"Well, darling, we're here!" Caroline squatted down as gently as she could in her pencil skirt and blouse—for she was heading to an interview with a small museum after this, as an event organizing position had become available—and adjusted Margret's headband, brushing a few stray hairs back. "Pay attention in class, and please try to keep from letting Tommy Wilson get to you again. We don't need another trip to the headmistress's office."

"I'll try to be nice." The little girl rolled her eyes. "Even if he's being a meanie."

"That's my girl." She winked, standing back up. Caroline placed the pink scrapbook in her child's backpack, and walked her up the school gates. "Now, have fun with Show and Tell!"

"Bye, Mommy!" Margret yelled back as she ran towards where a row of little girls dressed in the school uniform, all carrying colorful backpacks, were gathered. Their high-pitched giggles and shouts of "Meggie!" warmed her heart. It was good to see her daughter with a large group of friends.

Caroline waved back, smiling, before walking the direction she had just come from. One thing was certain: she did quite a bit more walking here in New York than she had done in Mystic Falls. Probably even more than she had done total in the eighteen years she had lived in her hometown. She was looking forward to the interview at the museum; it would be nice to have something to do again, now that college was over. She had toyed with the idea of getting her Master's, but Caroline figured she could either do that when Margret was a bit older, or even later on down the line. She did have eternity, after all, and this job was only part-time; besides, it looked really fun. A part of her just said "Compel yourself the museum job, and it'll be over with", but the other side said "You've used compulsion so much over the past few years to get _anything_ you've wanted. It would be nice to get something on your own merits". Being the fairly moral and hard-working person she was, Caroline listened to the angel rather than the devil. It was time to go charm the interviewer, and get herself a job.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Two hours later, Caroline left the museum, thoroughly pleased with how the interview went. It was just at a relatively young art museum in Manhattan called Neue Galerie, and she was sure she would get the job. It was just going to be something to fund her shopping habit as compelling everything did get a bit tiring, and she had always been a person to be involved in everything. This gave her an outlet for her energy, and let her have a bit of time where she could just be Caroline Forbes, and not Caroline, Margret's Mommy.

She was snapped out of her train of thought, however, by the buzzing of her cellphone. "Hi Mom!" Caroline answered the device. "You still coming the day after tomorrow?" Thanksgiving was in three days, after all, and Liz had promised to come up. Margret was looking forward to seeing her, and Caroline had missed her mother. Liz had not been able to visit since the summer, and before that, Christmas. "Great. Are you sure you don't want me to pick you up from the airport? Because seriously, it won't be any trouble. Mom, you're my _mother_. Of course I don't mind picking you up. Okay, fine, do whatever you want." She sighed. God knows why her mother was so stubborn. It was only picking her up at the airport, for goodness sake. "Margret's looking forward to your arrival, just so you know, and she's already got all these plans. I swear, I wasn't this bad as a kid." She laughed at her daughter's neurotic planning tendencies, which could have only come from her. Caroline found it nice to see her traits in the child, even though Margret was not biologically hers. As she kept talking with her mom, a flash of something caught her eye. Turning around, Caroline looked towards the very familiar person she had seen from across the street. It… It had looked like… Oh god. "Hey, mom, I've got to go. I've…got a call on the other line. See you soon!" Going with the flow of traffic, Caroline headed in the direction the woman had been heading. She could see the same head of white-blonde hair a quarter of a block or so ahead, and it wouldn't take much to get there.

Pushing through the throngs of people on the streets, Caroline crossed the street at the next possible moment and continued after the woman. Eventually she managed to get within a few yards. "Rebekah!" She called out, gaining more than a few strange looks, but who gives a damn? When the woman stopped and turned around, Caroline's stomach dropped. It was actually Rebekah Effing Mikaelson of all people. Well, shit.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Can't say I ever saw myself here." Rebekah sipped her coffee pompously, if it was even a possible thing to accomplish.

"Trust me, neither did I." Caroline shot back. She had always hoped that one day she would find one of the Mikaelsons, but now that she had, what on earth was she supposed to do?

"So, then why did you want to grab coffee?" The Original asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Would you believe me if I said I wanted to catch up?" When she received a 'are you stupid' look, Caroline rolled her eyes. "Thought not. I need to speak to your family. And by that, I mean all three of you."

"And why would that be? Please, don't tell me you've fallen madly in love with my psychotic brother, and need me to fetch him for you." Rebekah sniped, her tone filled with aggravation.

The younger blonde scoffed, deciding to cut the bullshit. "Nearly six years ago, your family went into a cemetery in New Orleans and never came out. For some reason, the white oak stake was in there as well. Now, I have it." If it was possible to stun Rebekah Mikaelson, Caroline had just done so. "I'm willing to hand it over in exchange for a meeting with you, Elijah, and Klaus."

"How did you get that?" Rebekah hissed, lips pursed. "The thought of it missing has nearly driven us all mad."

"I've had it for nearly six years." Caroline leaned back in her chair, glad she had the upper hand. "And I'll explain why, but it's a story all three of you need to hear." She was not going to spill about Margret until Klaus himself was in front of her. He was the child's father; he at least deserved to hear it from her, and not his sister.

"Nik and Elijah have been awfully busy, and they won't be happy about leaving their work, but I'll get them here." The ancient vampiress agreed. "If I find out that this is a trick, I will kill everyone you have ever loved myself."

"It's not." Caroline looked her in the eye. "I have the stake, and it's not a trap or anything. I swear on it."

"Fine. Then I'll arrange dinner for the four of us." Rebekah crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

"Here's my contact details." Caroline quickly wrote down her phone number and email on a small notepad she kept in her purse. "Call me whenever, and I'll be there."

"Expect my call very soon. With the prospect of the white oak stake, my brothers are more liable to come." She countered.

"I know." Caroline smirked. "That's why I told you about it." And, that much was true. She knew that by saying she would hand over the stake, the Originals, and Klaus especially, were more likely to come to a meeting. Now she just had to figure out what she was going to do about this whole situation.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Later that evening, after dinner, they were snuggled up on the couch, watching Disney movies. Ironically, Margret seemed to like Princess and The Frog the best, and Caroline had lost count of the number of times they had watched that movie. What was it with the Mikaelsons and New Orleans? Even more ironically, the movie was set in the twenties, which happened to be Klaus's favorite decade. Caroline was not sure if it was a coincidence, or some freaky genetic thing, but the parallels between father and daughter were there.

God, she was so stupid. How on earth was she going to waltz in and tell them that she had raised their daughter/niece? Like… Talk about the most strange conversation topic ever. And, after that, life would change. Would they all just want to take Margret and leave? Would they even want her to be a part of her life anymore? True, Caroline had raised her, and was the only mother the girl had ever known, but if they wanted her gone, they were capable of making her leave. Now, that would only happen if she was compelled or dead, but nevertheless, Caroline was going into this with the most to lose.

She was not going to back down, though. Caroline was a strong and independent woman, damn it, and she was going to fight for her daughter. The lady was not naïve enough to believe that everything would be sunshine and rainbows from this point on, but she knew that when it came to Margret herself, she was the expert. Caroline may not be the tiny hybrid's biological mother, but she was as close as, and she loved the little girl fiercely. Margret was her daughter, and that was not going to change.

It would be an understatement to say that Caroline was not looking forward to whatever meeting Rebekah was going to conjure up. Not at all. One thing was certain: life was going to change drastically, at that meeting. For better or for worse, Caroline did not know.

* * *

**AN: Give me your thoughts! Rebekah's back, and the other Mikaelsons soon will be, and awkward conversations lie ahead!**

**Caroline's pretty much in freak-out mode right now, and understandably. Sure, the last time she saw Klaus was during their epic sexathon in the woods, but that was over five years ago, and now she has his kid. So... Yeah. This are going to be interesting, basically. ****Chapter five is actually one of my favorites yet, and we get to see Klaus for the first time! *cue applause* **

**I know a few of you have asked if I'm going to write anything showing what happened in New Orleans, but really, what happened there is not important to this story. It's Caroline-centric, in Caroline's POV, and what the Mikaelsons went through for five years is not essential. You'll find out what happened eventually, but there will never actually be any scenes of it. It was a decision I made when beginning this story, because, unlike ATCL, this is not meant to be a complicated and twisty epic. It's a lighthearted summer fic. So yeah.**

**Oh, if any of you are fans of _A Tree Called Life_, I just published the first of the post-story oneshot series a few days ago. It's titled _Visions of the Future_, and I'll update it probably every week or so. **

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate the support. 3**

**-Abi**


	5. five years since she left for NYC

Previously on ABaD: _'For better or for worse, Caroline did not know.'_

* * *

"Took you long enough to answer the door for someone with supernatural hearing." Liz teased, when Caroline opened her front door. Unfortunately, instead of the happy and bubbly daughter she was expecting, Caroline burst into tears at the sight of her mother. Like, full-on ugly sobbing, tears. She sniffled slightly when her mom wrapped her in a hug, and reveled in it for a moment, before pulling back and wiping her eyes.

"Sorry, Mom." Caroline sighed. "I… I didn't think that would happen."

"Caroline, what's wrong?" Liz crossed her arms, very much in Sheriff-mode, even if the uniform was absent for once.

"I…ran into Rebekah, the day before yesterday." The vampire sighed when she saw her mother's expression. "Yeah, _that_ Rebekah."

"You just…ran into her. It was a chance meeting." Liz cautioned, her internal police radar flashing red.

"I saw her from across the street while I was on the phone with you. Then I practically had to fight my way through a block of people just to see if it actually _was_ her. There's no way it was a setup, and she was just as surprised to see me." Caroline placated, calming down slightly. "Anyways, she agreed to get her brothers to the city for a meeting, and this morning she called and asked if I would be available tonight. Which, I'm hoping you can take care of Margret while I'm gone, actually."

"Of course. We'll be just fine."

"Great. Because like I'm kind of freaking out right now because I've got to break to them what happened when I got her, and who knows if they were even detained anywhere at all, and maybe I just didn't look diligently enough, and what if they don't want me to be in her life anymore, and she's my daughter, Mom, I can't lose her." Caroline babbled, gesturing as she spoke. When she finished, she brought a hand over her mouth, forcefully pushing emotions back.

"Caroline." Liz got in her daughter's face, expression stern. "Pull yourself together. You have been Margret's mother for almost six years, and no matter how much I was sure you would be back in Mystic Falls within a month in the beginning, you have brought up an amazing child. Meg loves you, and you will always be her mother. No one can take her away from you without your consent."

"You think?" A part of Caroline wanted to believe her mother, but another part had doubts. She was not sure where she stood with any of the Mikaelsons anymore. She and Rebekah had never been…friends, exactly. Her contact with Elijah had been polite greetings at social events, and that was all. And yes, she and Klaus were…well, themselves, but even then, Caroline was not sure how he would react. She was not sure what he had even thought about having a child in the first place, and here she was, showing up with a five-year old. Not to mention, the last time she had seen him was when he left her after their…sex marathon in the woods. Right. Talk about having the awkward post-sex talk a few years too late. The time she had spent with him that day had been really, really, fantastic, but after the sun had gone down and the moon rose, they dressed in the dark and all Caroline had been left with was a last kiss. Well, and a couple months later, she got his kid, which was like a really big reminder of him, to be honest.

"Caroline, I'm sure you'll be fine." Liz squeezed her daughter's hand. "Now, what time is this dinner you have to go to?"

She checked the entry hall clock, sighing. "Two hours, and I should be there five minutes early. So I need to start getting ready."

"And bring some things to show them." Her mother advised, Caroline nodding in agreement. "Take those scrapbooks you're constantly adding to, and maybe some pieces of Margret's artwork. If I remember correctly, the painting in City Hall was by her father, after all."

"Thanks, Mom." The lady smiled, feeling better after her outburst and her mother's counsel. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't here."

"You'd do just fine. Now, go get ready and let me greet Margret." Liz shooed her eternally-seventeen-but-really-twenty-five year old baby off.

"She's in her room!" Caroline shouted as she headed towards her bedroom. "Just put your things in the spare room like always!" It was time to prepare herself for this meeting/dinner/eternal-doom that she was walking straight into.

-0-0-0-0-0-

When Caroline stepped out of the elevator to the address Rebekah had given her, she was not in the least bit surprised. The penthouse apartment was even more swanky than she had assumed it could be, and it all screamed wealth and history; aka, it was very much a Mikaelson home. She had dressed for what was sure to be a semi-formal dinner in a fitted deep purple blouse and light tan pencil skirt, her matching purple stilettos giving her an extra boost of confidence with every step she took. Her oversized purse—which actually doubled as a laptop bag most days, but no one had to know that—held the scrapbooks, some artwork, and the white oak stake. Everything would be fine. Everything had to go fine.

"Ahh, you're here." Rebekah breezed out of a corner somewhere, and Caroline was relieved to see she was dressed in a similar manner as herself. "Five minutes early."

"Five minutes early is on time. On time is late, in my book." The younger vampire said, attempting to keep herself calm with mental stress-relieving techniques.

"A principle by which more should attempt to live by." Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach when Elijah came striding out of the same door Rebekah had arrived from, Klaus right beside him. The latter's expression was indiscernible, which unnerved her slightly. Then again, Klaus had always managed to unnerve her. "Though the circumstances are unusual, it is a pleasure to renew our acquaintance, Miss Forbes."

"Please, call me Caroline." She shook his hand, turning to the last member of the family.

"Hello, love." And the charming smirk appeared. God, those dimples would be the death of her.

"Klaus." She smiled slightly. "It's been a while."

"That it has." He agreed, a glint in his eyes telling her he was thinking of their last encounter just as she was.

"Well, you two can stop your flirting now, and we can move into dinner." Rebekah burst the moment with her perfectly manicured fingernails, cutting Klaus off when he went to speak. "And Nik, as this is my house, I make the rules. Payback's a bitch, no?"

"You have a lovely home, Rebekah." Caroline effectively ended an argument before it was allowed to begin. She caught up with the other lady, as she talked. It would not do to have bickering siblings when she was about to drop a huge bomb on their heads... "Tell me, are the decorations from your travels?"

"Of course they are." The Original turned to the other woman. "And thank you; I designed the place myself. It was a recent purchase." Rebekah smiled genuinely—for the first time all evening—as they entered the formal dining room. As they sat down, Elijah pulled out a chair for his sister, and Klaus one for Caroline, before they themselves took seats. "Do you live in the city, or are you just visiting for the holidays?"

"Oh, I'm a resident. I moved up here about five years ago, to the Upper West Side." Caroline smiled, internally wincing because now that was just going to open up a line of questions.

"And what happened to your college plans with your friends?" Klaus arched an eyebrow, appearing to be genuinely curious. Caroline knew that one was coming, as she had so fervently defended her life plan to him.

"Things changed. I moved up here and continued college instead." Caroline replied, as the hostess clapped her hands and servants came out with their dinner. "I graduated nearly a year ago from Fordham, with a degree in humanities and art history. It was an amazing experience."

"Must say, I hadn't expected you to go for something so serious during your first college experience." Rebekah commented. "It seems very unlike the sweet little small-town girl I remember from five years ago."

"You must be mistaking me with April Young, Rebekah. I've never been very _sweet_." Caroline retorted, enjoying the amused noise Klaus made. "Though, I did originally go for a drama major when I was at Whitmore. Things change, however. I changed."

"Yes, I can see." Rebekah acquiesced, having sized up the other blonde by now. Caroline knew she had stumped her; after all, they did share many similar traits. She was aware she had changed in the years since these three had last seen her; motherhood had forced her to grow up quickly, after all.

"Tell us, how are the residents of Mystic Falls? Has the town settled down any?" Elijah asked, breaking his former silence.

"I wouldn't know." _Well, now it was going to get interesting_, Caroline told herself. She could tell that Rebekah thought something was off, and Klaus definitely did not buy her 'things changed and everything's peachy' excuse; she knew that by his gaze, the intensity of which was going to leave her breathless by the end of the evening. They were thousand-year old beings, not idiots. "I…haven't been back to Mystic Falls since I left." She let out, worrying her napkin under the table. When she received three identical questioning looks—Margret had the same one, and it sent shivers down her spine—Caroline elaborated. "I," She paused, trying to figure out what to say, "sort of grabbed a few essentials from my dorm and my house and just…left in the middle of the night. My mom knows where I am, of course, but everyone else thinks I'm traveling the world."

"And you came to New York instead of doing that." Rebekah deadpanned, unimpressed. Of course, Caroline agreed with her. It was a lame excuse and it didn't really make sense.

"Yes." She stuck with her story, however full of holes. _Determination_, Caroline told herself. _Determination_. "I just couldn't take Mystic Falls anymore. Too much had gone on; I mean, we had these crazy vampire-torturing people who apparently had had their main base at Whitmore of all places since like the forties running around, and if I stayed in town any longer, I would have snapped. So, I left." It was technically the truth, anyways.

"And no one searched for you? You all seemed quite close." Of the three, the one sibling Caroline could not get a read on was Elijah. Even now, she was not sure if he was taunting her or not. She avoided Klaus-who was attempting to catch her eye-as she replied.

"Yes, they did. I got several frantic emails at first, and I've kept in touch with Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan over the years, oh and I ran into Damon a couple of years back, and he told me they'd searched, but apparently, I'm good at disappearing." The word vomit which kept tumbling out made her just want to slap a hand over her mouth. _God, shut up before you say too much_, she mentally yelled. She looked down at the remains of her dinner, and toyed around with it for a bit before sipping her wine. Talk about awkward silences.

"Caroline." Klaus's voice drew her out of the pit she had buried herself in. "What is the real reason you left Mystic Falls, why did you call this meeting, and why do you have the white oak stake?" He leaned backwards, his eyes daring her to answer. "You're hiding something and I want to know what and why." Well, someone was finally cutting the bullshit that had been near-overwhelming at this table.

"You're correct." Caroline mimicked his pose, going for the confident route. She wanted to at least stall this conversation until after dinner. "I omitted the truth a bit. However, I would prefer if we discussed it after dinner."

The hybrid raised an eyebrow, but nodded in agreement. "Very well."

* * *

After dinner and dessert—which consisted of Rebekah clapping her hands and four people appearing, offering them their wrists to feed upon; needless to say, Caroline's propensity for fresh-feeding raised a few blonde eyebrows—the three Originals and one vampire moved to what appeared to be the living room. Caroline had asked for her bag, and the lady of the house sent a servant to fetch it. When it was returned to her, the young vampire took out the stake.

"I believe this belongs to you." She walked over and handed it to Klaus, who had one arm resting upon the mantle of the fireplace, while his siblings were sitting.

"Thank you, love." He slid the object into an inside pocket of his jacket. "Now, are you going to tell us the real story, instead of your contrived one?"

"To my credit," Caroline went back to her seat, where she primly crossed her legs, "the majority of my story was true. I did leave in the middle of the night, and have not been back to Mystic Falls since."

"You were in New Orleans." If there was any surprise at that fact, Klaus did not betray it in his expression. "That's how you got the stake."

"How long were you and your siblings in that cemetery, Klaus? And what happened?" She countered, not budging an inch. This conversation was going to go her way, damn it. Maybe there had been confidence-booster in the wine from dinner, because Caroline was certainly feeling better about all of this. Then again, she had planned out seventeen different ways this conversation could go over the years. Right now she was on the 'Be Confident!' route.

"How do you know about that? And why is it any of your business?" Rebekah interjected.

"Trust me, it's my business." The younger blonde said, devoid of any sarcasm.

"If you are asking how long we have been free, the answer is a few months. The exact extent of time we spent in the cemetery, I have no idea." Klaus gave her her answer. "We went in, were taken down by a coven, and then woke up in a warehouse after some time. We spent—what we now know to be a number of years—under…experimentation. One of the spells meant to kill us backfired one day, and we regained our strength instead. Needless to say, witches perished in a bloody manner, and we left the city. Since then, we have been busy." _Talk about telling me without telling me,_ Caroline mused. She wanted to discuss what had happened, but since it was obvious no one wanted to discuss those five years with her, she let it go. For now. Instead, she addressed his last statement.

"You mean to say that you two," Caroline looked between the Mikaelson brothers, "spent the time since looking for a certain werewolf." When she received nothing in response, she continued, not wanting to hear anything about it. That was ancient history, and whatever hurt feelings she had had about Klaus and Hayley were long gone. "Don't bother. She's dead."

The brothers exchanged looks, and she was not entirely sure what to make of it. "Please explain." Elijah asked.

"She died in childbirth on March 10, 2012. From what I was told, she hemorrhaged to death. Can't say I'm particularly sorry… I have a laundry list of reasons to hate her." Caroline leaned back into the chair, fully enjoying confusing the hell out of these immortal beings. How she had missed the taste of sweet manipulation.

"You…know?" Klaus walked forward a few steps, approaching where she was seated. "Do you have any ide—"

Caroline cut him off. "You have a beautiful daughter, Klaus." She smiled, thinking of Margret. "And I'm the one who's raised her since the day she was born."

* * *

**AN: *cue ominous music* Talk about a cliffhanger! I must say, I really enjoy the more devious side of Caroline that we see, as well as her freaking-out side. She's still the Caroline from Mystic Falls, just with five years and mommy-hood added to her list of qualifications. **

**How did you all like the introductions? I figured Klaus was sufficiently distant, and yet flirtatious as always. And, well, I'm not entirely sure what to do with Elijah right now, so he's really just decoration in this chapter and the next. ****Anyways, I know you all had some concerns and questions in the reviews, and normally I would have replied, but since I've spent the last two weeks on ACT prep, I haven't had time. So, without further ado, I shall answer your questions from chapter four:**

**"What kind of a hybrid is Margret?" _This will be explained in...chapter eight I believe, so just hold on tight._**

**"Why doesn't Rebekah know about her niece?" _Rebekah knew her niece existed, however, she did not know Caroline had her. Therefore, she has no reason to discuss the baby with Caroline._**

**"Do you speak German?" _No, I don't, but I would like to learn the language one day! Neue Galerie is the name of an actual art gallery in Manhattan, which is why its in here._**

**"Why were they [the Mikaelsons] worried about the stake and not a missing kid?" _In this story, the Mikaelsons never spoke to anyone who knew of Hayley's death before they left NOLA, so they believed that Hayley and the baby had ran and were living somewhere. The business Rebekah spoke of was her brothers and herself searching for the child. They're all kind of neurotic whenever the stake in not in their possession in canon, which is why she got so...pissy when Caroline mentioned it._  
**

**"When are they going to meet Meggie?" _Y__ou'll get your answer in the next chapter. :)__  
_**

**Anyways, I hope that cleared a bit up for you guys, and seriously, if you have any questions or concerns, drop it in a PM, review, or through tumblr at lionheartedqueencaroline. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**-Abi**


	6. the telling of secrets

Previously on ABaD: _"…I'm the one who's raised her since the day she was born."_

* * *

"Excuse me?" Rebekah shrieked, causing her to wince. God, that girl could break glass with her voice. Klaus, on the other hand, looked as if she had just smacked him upside the head with a large stick.

Caroline stood up, heels clicking on the hardwood floors as she began to pace. "Around three in the morning on March 10th, I got a call from a witch named Davina. She was losing it over the phone, and all I got was something about you three going missing, a treaty being broken, and a bunch of incoherent babble. Being the _extremely_ nice person that I am—not to mention that I wasn't even entirely sure what I was doing until I was in Alabama, and by that time it was too late to go back—I threw some things into a suitcase, and drove south." She ran a hand through her perfect curls, mussing them quite a bit. "I don't know if you all like…looked around the city after whatever happened, but New Orleans was so quiet, it scared me." Caroline took a breath, though it was unneeded. "Anyways, I'm paraphrasing quite a bit because, frankly, it was a fairly traumatic ordeal, not to mention a long time ago. Either way, I met up with this chick named Cami, and then Davina, of course. They're the ones who told me Hayley was dead, and Davina apparently did some voodoo-thingy to determine that I was the magically ordained protector of this newborn baby. To make a long story short, this coven of psycho witches was after said baby, and when they were literally beating down the door, I took her and ran. Anyways, I made a brief pit-stop in Mystic Falls to fill my mom in, and what better place to escape witches than a city with eight million people, right?" She laughed grimly. "I didn't name her for a week, because I thought the invincible Originals would make it out, you know? We're both cloaked from locator spells, and all kinds of other magic that I'm not entirely sure of, but it's worked. I haven't seen or heard anything from any witches in the entire time." Caroline met Klaus's gaze, and she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. They seemed to be…okay with everything.

Klaus ran a hand over his face. "She's nearly six, correct?" She nodded in response. "What is her name?"

"Margret." Caroline smiled, then turned to the other woman in the room. "Margret Rebekah Mikaelson. Actually, we're living as Margret and Caroline Walters, but that's only in public. She knows her real last name."

"You named her after me?" The Original sister asked, a faint smile on her face.

"I got the name Margret from my family line, not to mention it technically has Nordic roots, and I know you all were like…Vikings or whatever, so that's why I picked that name. And then, well, I figured she needed to be named after someone in her family." The blonde shrugged. "Considering I didn't think it appropriate to name her after _Esther_, she got your name." Caroline was beaming as she talked about the little girl. "My mom was in town this weekend for the holidays, so that's where Margret is now. They get along marvelously together."

"Did… Did you bring any pictures? Or anything?" Rebekah asked hesitantly.

Caroline giggled and picked up her bag before plopping down beside her on the sofa. Klaus was in a chair on her other side, and Elijah was beside Rebekah. "I've got to warn you, I totally became that mom that, like, scrapbooks everything." She drew out the pink one first, which had a decorated cover with Margret's name in patterned paper across the front. "This is an account of the first five years of her life, as well as some of this year. I think everything through Halloween is in there." She passed it to Rebekah and Elijah, the former of which who looked like she was about to jump out of her seat, before pulling out the yellow one. Caroline stroked the cover, sighing. "Believe it or not, I've spent five years sending out people looking for you three. But after a year of nothing, I put this together, because I wanted Margret to know her family." She handed it to Klaus, their fingers brushing in the process. As he looked through it, the lady smiled. This whole evening had been surreal. "Two days ago she wanted to take that book to school, to show her class about 'my daddy and his family'." Caroline said softly. "She knows who you are. I'll admit that I didn't really know what I was doing at first, but Margret's turned out to be a lovely little girl."

"I think she has your eyes, Nik." Rebekah said. She got up and switched books with her brother. "Here, see." The Original avoided her gaze, which Caroline found weird, but let it go. Rebekah was clearly just excited.

"She does." Caroline laughed. "Trust me."

"You said she's in school?" Elijah asked.

"Yes, at an exclusive private school. She's the top of her class, which yes, it's only kindergarten, but still. Margret can read extremely well for her age, and a few pieces of her artwork have been displayed in the school hallways. She's also been learning French, and then the cello, at school." Caroline smiled, looking over to see which page Klaus was on in the pink book. He was still in the infant days, which made her sigh in nostalgia. "Oh, that was taken after she took her first steps! Margret was only ten months, and after that it became a lot harder to keep up with her! I had to install baby gates everywhere."

"What is she like, personality-wise?" Klaus asked, still flipping through the pages which were filled with pictures of a blue-eyed and brunette toddler. She was often dressed in little sundresses and hair bows, and some pictures featured Caroline in them as well.

"Margret is…energetic, to say the least. She's always on the move; always needs to be doing something. It's why I've got her in so many activities." Caroline bit her lip as she thought. "She's very opinionated for a little girl, and is definitely a natural leader. Even around her five-year old friends, Margret's acknowledged as the leader of the group. She's got a pack of little girls for friends, and I kid you not, there have already been issues with little boys wanting to make her their girlfriend. In _kindergarten_." She rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with the whole situation. Klaus seemed less-than-pleased at the idea that boys were already after her as well. "Anyways, moving on from that. Margret's been called 'darling' by nearly everyone who meets her, and sure, I'm biased, but it's true. She's sweet and kind, yet not afraid to stand up for what she wants." Caroline turned to Klaus, giggling. "Oh, it's the weirdest thing, but like she loves this Disney movie—I don't even know how many times we've danced around the living room, singing all the songs—and it's set in New Orleans. In the 1920's. We've probably watched Princess and The Frog a thousand times in the past three years."

He chuckled, but whether at her or the mental picture of Margret, Caroline had no idea. "Margret sounds like a happy child. And you seem happy as well."

"She is. And I am too. She's… She changed my life. In the best of ways. I can't imagine life before her, anymore." Caroline saw that she had captured the attention of the other two Mikaelsons, but just continued speaking. "I mean, in the beginning it was really hard, especially during the first month or so when I hadn't really connected with Margret emotionally yet. It's gotten way easier since the early days, but I won't downplay the hard job of being a parent." The lady said. "No matter how hard it could get, though, it's always been worth it."

"Hayley had family in the bayou of New Orleans. Did you know of this?" Elijah asked, his motive unknown to her.

Caroline uncrossed and recrossed her legs. "I didn't." To be honest, that was a bit surprising. She had thought Hayley had been all alone. They must have assumed the baby died with Hayley, otherwise they surely would have searched for their family's child.

"Would that knowledge have changed your decision?"

She considered for a moment before answering. "Probably, yes. I was a scared nineteen year old who had gone from taking theatre classes and going to frat parties to the sole guardian of a newborn literally overnight, and a coven of _witches_ chasing me. Would I have taken the easy option and gone back to my life? Yes, I think I would have." Caroline said. "Would I have wondered how the baby had fared, had I taken that path? I think I would have definitely wondered if she made it or not. She's been an innocent in all of this from the very beginning, after all."

"Yes, she has." Klaus agreed, leaning back in his chair. They were all silent for a few moments, absorbed in looking over the various things Caroline had brought. That was broken, however, when Caroline's phone went off.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She fumbled in her bag, before drawing out the device. "Um, this is my mom calling… And she has Margret. Anyways, do you all—" Caroline was waved out, and she dashed to the hall, answering the call. "Hi mom! Yeah, everything's going really well. Okay, yeah, put her on the phone." She said. "Hi sweetie! Have you been having a fun time with Nana? I'm glad. Oh, you watched Cinderella? That's great. Did you have fun at the park? I'm glad you finally went down the big slide." Caroline smiled, listening to her daughter chatter on the other end. "Well, I need to get back, darling, but go to sleep for your Nana, okay? Night-night, sweetie. I love you too." She went back to walk into the living room, catching part of a conversation between the Mikaelsons.

"Which room do you think would work, 'Lijah? Since Nik seems against my meddling, you'll side with me on this, no? She's our family. Ours." Rebekah was jotting something down in a notebook as Caroline reentered the room.

"I'm sorry, Margret just wanted to say goodnight. My mother is putting her to bed now." She looked between the three siblings. Klaus looked annoyed, Elijah was not looking at her, and Rebekah looked like she was ready for a fight. "Did I…miss something?"

"I'm picking out Margret's room." The Original sister crossed her legs, daring the young vampire to challenge her. "It's time to bring her home." What the hell?

Caroline was not entirely sure she was hearing correctly. "Excuse me?" Was Rebekah really saying what she thought she was saying? "Margret is home. She was just put to bed, by her grandmother, in the home she has lived in since one week after her birth. She's at home. She doesn't need another one."

"Caroline." The other blonde sighed, as if she was talking to a small child. "Truly, I'm sure you've done a lovely job, but Margret isn't really your family. Like you said yourself, if you had been given an out, you would have taken it. Here's your out."

"Rebekah…" Klaus warned, though whatever else he might have been about to say was cut off by an angry Caroline.

"That was six years ago! I was a practically a child, of course I would have taken an out! But newsflash, I've grown up a lot since then. You yourself said I changed, no?" Caroline crossed her arms, her voice hard. "There may be many things I am unsure about right now, but there is one thing that will not change, and it is this: Margret is my daughter, and I am her mother. She calls me Mommy, and has done so since she was seven months old and was able to speak. I took care of every two am feeding, I kissed every bruise. I was the one she walked to first, and I'm the one who took her to her first day of school two months ago. I have sat through every single ballet and soccer practice, I am the one who nourished her love of learning, and it is my bed she crawls into when she's scared." She paused to take an unneeded breath, her hands shaking in anger. No one was going to take her daughter away from her. No one. "I love Margret, and she loves me. And if there is one thing you need to understand, it is that I will not let you take my daughter away from me. I will be _dead_ before that happens."

"I can arrange that." Rebekah stood, approaching Caroline. "I want my niece with me, Caroline, and I will get her, by any means necessary." She stood firm, not breaking eye contact with the older woman.

"Tr—" Caroline had just formulated her reply to Rebekah, and it was a very menacing and threatening one, when Klaus stood up and cut her off.

"Rebekah that is enough." He silenced both women. Though Klaus had not said much all night, the few things he had said were enough for Caroline to feel as if he would back her on this. Hopefully.

"Nik, stay out of this. You didn't even want the baby in the first place! It was always me who wanted her! Me and Elijah! Just go back to whatever the hell you were doing before, and let me raise my niece in peace." Rebekah crossed her arms, jaw set.

"Yes, sister, your _niece_. She is not your child, nor will she ever be. Had we never gone into the cemetery, she would still be your niece, and nothing more. You are not my child's parent, and it would do for you to realize your place, Rebekah." Klaus nearly growled. A sigh of relief mentally went through Caroline. Though Rebekah was clearly going to be an obstacle, at least Klaus did not seem against her. That would be a help, as she would be bearing the emotional weight of both herself and Margret during this transition.

"I will not have my niece taken away from me, Niklaus! I refuse to let it happen!" Rebekah yelled back at her brother. Out of the corner of her eye, Caroline saw Elijah pour himself yet another drink. He was smart to stay out of this mess.

"I'm not trying to take Margret away from you!" Caroline said, at the same time Klaus said "That's not your decision to make!" They looked at each other, and then back at the other Original when she spoke again.

"You should never have had her in the first place!" She poked at Caroline. "It was not your place to take my family away from me and make them love you instead!" For some reason, Caroline felt as if they were not just talking about Margret.

"What's done is done, Rebekah!" The younger vampire threw her hands up in the air before placing them on her hips. "I'm truly sorry that you and your family got trapped by a coven of psychotic witches, and I'm sorry that you missed out on five years with your niece. However, you need to acknowledge the fact that I am Margret's mother, and I'm not going anywhere." She ran a hand through her hair, stressed by the evening's events. "Look… I'm going to go now. I… I think we all need time to digest everything, okay?" Caroline picked up the two scrapbooks and slid them back into her bag, pulling out a thick envelope in the process, and laying it on the side table. "There are just some loose photos in there, since I'm taking the scrapbooks home. My contact information is on a card in there as well, so just… Call me any time after this weekend and we'll set up something."

* * *

She said her goodbyes to Elijah and Rebekah, as Klaus followed her out of the room. Caroline paused for him to catch up, as she had wanted to talk to him alone all evening. "I'm sorry I had to drop the bomb like that." She played with her daylight ring, twisting it around her finger.

"I must say, it was not what I expected you to announce, love." He cocked his head to the side, and she burst into giggles.

"Yeah, I would expect not." Caroline said. "Thank you for backing me up in there, by the way." Their dynamic was…different. The casual conversation that had always existed between them was still there, but at the same time, it was all different. That was what five years and the raising of a child that was actually his could do to a person, she supposed.

"You were doing fine against Rebekah. This reaction of hers is typical, I must say. She wants what she wants, damn the consequences." Klaus shrugged lightly

She sighed. "My worst fear in coming tonight was that one or all of you would attempt to take Margret away from me. Guess I was right." Caroline spoke again, not giving him a chance to reply. It was time to make this conversation happier. "Margret's an artist too, you know? She's really very good. It might be something you could discuss with her on Saturday." She smirked.

"And what exactly might I be doing on Saturday, sweetheart?" Klaus asked, his dimples making a brief appearance.

"You're coming to this address," She handed him a slip of paper, with a phone number scribbled beneath it, "around lunchtime, and meeting Margret first. You deserve to meet her before your siblings, and she deserves a slow introduction to this whole thing." Caroline said. "That's our apartment, but we can grab lunch at a little café nearby, and then maybe stop by Central Park. It'll be easier for her to acclimate if she's kept busy, trust me."

To Caroline, it appeared as if she had managed to shock the 'Almighty Hybrid', though whatever that was in Klaus's eyes was covered up quickly with a smirk. "I will be there, love."

"You better." She half-teased. God, it was fun bantering with him again. "Or you'll have a very disappointed five-year old on your hands. And, fair warning, Margret's heart is one you don't break, unless you want to suffer my wrath."

Caroline did not give Klaus a chance to answer her, and stepped into the elevator which led downstairs. Her feelings about the evening were…mixed. Good thing she had given herself a few days buffer before letting the meeting actually happen. Klaus seemed interested in Margret, which was a very good thing in her book, really, it was great, but Rebekah and Elijah were going to be something to worry about. Rebekah on her own, Caroline felt she could stand against, especially since Klaus seemed to have her back. However, Elijah's opinion would be something to be considered. Though technically this matter was really only up to herself and Klaus, well, it was the Mikaelsons. Nothing between them was ever up to just one member of the family.

As she sat in a taxi on the way back to her apartment, Caroline pondered how she was going to break the news to Margret. That would be an interesting conversation, certainly. First things first, though, was to get through Thanksgiving and her mother's visit. _One thing at a time, Caroline_, she told herself. _One thing at a time._

* * *

**AN: Give me your thoughts, everyone! I greatly enjoy them! Seriously though, I love to hear what you all think about each chapter, and I'd love to know what you think about how this chapter went down.**

**Rebekah is going to make herself a bit of a pain in Caroline's ass, just so you all know. For those of you who have read ATCL, you know I love Bekah, but she's going to take on a bit of an antagonistic role in this story. I need someone to be the bad guy after all, and she's jealous of Caroline, plain and simple.**

**The whole Klaus and Meggie interaction will be in chapter eight, simply because the next chapter is very much a filler, though Meggie is going to be told about the whole thing. We also get to see Thanksgiving next chapter, and more neurotic Caroline. Yay!**

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing and if anyone has any questions, drop me a message and I'll either answer it in the next author's note or privately!**

**-Abi**


	7. blundering through the unknown

Previously on ABaD: _"One thing at a time"_

* * *

Thanksgiving in the Forbes household was, yet again, a lovely occasion. Caroline had resolved during the very first year that she would always throw a marvelous holiday party, and even with the events of the previous days, this year was no exception.

Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and sunny, a crisp wind in the air. Unable to sleep after the past night, she was up and zooming around her house, stress-cleaning everything and doing some minor prep work for their early dinner. It was in this way that her daughter, who had managed to be an early riser as well, found her.

"Mommy? What are you doing?" Margret rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, padding softly in her panda footie pajamas.

"Hmm?" She snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, good morning Meggie! Did you sleep well?"

The little girl nodded, walking over and giving her mother a sleepy hug. "I dreamed 'bout pink unicorns." She yawned. Her hair was in a curly and knotty mess around her head, and Caroline internally sighed. That was going to be a mess to brush out.

"Really? I bet they were pretty unicorns, huh?" She leaned her broom against the kitchen wall, and picked up the five year old. "You ready for breakfast, sweetie?" Caroline got a nod in response. Margret was always ready to eat first thing in the morning, a trait which she herself, who could go for hours without having anything but coffee, did not possess. She deposited the little imp at the table, and went to pulling out breakfast items.

"What were you doing last night, Mommy?" Margret sounded considerably more awake. "You always tuck me in."

Caroline sighed as she chopped up some fruit. "I ran into some old friends of mine the other day, and we had dinner. That was all." Actually, sweetie, they were your family, but since it is an entirely confusing situation for a five year old to comprehend, we are just sticking with the whole 'friends-only' route right now. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Thankfully, it appeared to be a reasonable answer, as Margret nodded and accepted it.

"Glad to see you're back." Liz said as she walked into the kitchen, receiving a happy "Morning, Nana!" from Margret.

Caroline passed her mother a coffee cup, and finished up preparing her daughter's breakfast of fruit, toast, and a glass of milk. "I got back around midnight. Everything went well." She gave her mom a look, letting her know that she would fill her in later. The whole Margret situation was one she was trying to figure out.

"I'm glad. It certainly has been years since you've seen them." Liz caught on, nodding in agreement. "So, who is coming this afternoon?"

"My grandmas!" Margret giggled. Technically, she was correct. With all of the book club meetings they had gone to over the years, she had eventually begun to call those ladies each 'Grandma', and they had all accepted it. To be frank, Caroline found it kind of cute.

"I thought I was your grandmother?" Liz made a serious face, causing the little girl to laugh more.

"No, you're my Nana. There's a difference." She rolled her eyes.

"It'll be nice to see everyone again." Of course, her mother knew all of the ladies, as they had all met over the past few years.

"Navya will be here this year, as it's the other side of the family's year to get her son and daughter-in-law, and it's the same with Violet and her family. You did see Eva, Helena, and Joan last year, though." Caroline shrugged, sipping her breakfast of blood. "I think Joan is bringing her grandson who's around my age, but we've met before already, and I don't have the heart to tell her I'm not interested. Oh, and Helena might be bringing her daughter and her family, though I'm not entirely sure if they're coming or not. Either way, I'm preparing enough, and everyone's bringing a side dish like normal."

"It sounds like it is going to be yet another Caroline Forbes affair." Liz said.

"It's Walters, Mom. But don't worry, it will be." She smirked. Yes, this Thanksgiving was going to be her best yet. It had to be.

-0-0-0-0-0-

All in all, Thanksgiving went marvelously. Caroline had been right in the fact that Joan brought her, admittedly very handsome and nice, grandson, but there just was not that…spark. Helena had a couple of grandchild around Margret's age, so those three had gone off and played all afternoon. Liz had caught up with the women who had adopted her daughter and _her_ daughter, and the other guests had enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Overall, it had been yet another successful event for Caroline.

Out of all of the 'grandmas', only one noticed something was wrong with the hostess herself. She had managed to put on a favorable face, but even perfect masks slip, and eventually it fell completely. Caroline had not even been aware how open she had appeared emotionally, until Eva had asked her about it. To be honest, Eva was, at first glance, the least likely to be the one in tune with everyone's emotions. And, normally that was true. She was a fast-talking and brusque Russian-African-American woman, and she had been the last one of the book club to fully warm to them. However, she was observant, and that was all it took.

"What's wrong, girlie? And don't tell me it's nothing, because I can see it's something." Caroline was fully surprised when Eva pulled her aside, but decided to go with the truth for once.

She took a deep breath. "I found Margret's father. And his siblings."

"And are you going to do anything about it?"

"Already have." The blonde crossed her arms. "I had dinner with him, his brother, and their sister, last night. Margret's meeting just him on Saturday, though she doesn't know yet, so don't tell her. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Hmmm…" Eva trailed off, narrowing her eyes. "Are you just going to let them back in? After five years of nothing?"

Caroline sighed. "Not immediately. I practically had to fight his sister off just to keep her from driving over the moment she found out. I've never really been able to get a read on his brother, but he seemed to be okay with the whole thing. Klaus took my side when I argued with his sister, so I'm taking that as a good sign, and he seems fairly supportive of me. Saturday is really when I'm going to have to figure things out, I suppose."

"Will you be telling that baby-faced schemer of yours beforehand, or when he is present?" Eva had always been a bit…cynical when it came to Margret, but Caroline knew the two secretly got along well. Eva was responsible for teaching the munchkin all of her sneaky techniques, after all.

"I'm going to tell her tomorrow, I think. You know how she is… Meg takes things better when she has a bit of time to think it over. I hope she'll be okay with the whole situation; I've done the best I've been able to over the years, and she knows what he looks like because of pictures and things. I'm just scared." Caroline could not even voice her concerns about Rebekah, or the fact that Margret was not biologically hers, and therefore all she had was the past five years. That had to be enough. It had to be.

"Bring him by the next meeting. We'll properly threaten him for you." Eva patted her arm, an all-too-familiar glint in her eye, before walking off. The thought of a group of elderly ladies threatening the Original Hybrid was just too great of an opportunity to pass up… She was going to get Klaus to that next meeting if she had to drag him there herself.

Caroline flitted around the room, happily interacting with her guests, but not totally there. Her mind was across Central Park, where the Mikaelsons were, and she had gone into full-blown worrying mode. She had to have a conversation with her five-year old tomorrow about a life-changing fact, and then said life-changing fact was coming by on Saturday, and just… What if they did not get along? She did desperately want them to get along, after all. Before the whole torturing thing, some of Caroline's best childhood memories were with her father. Every little kid needs a daddy to look up to, after all.

She also had to worry about how Klaus was going to be with Margret. Would he be the loving father she needed, or would he be cold, like he had been at times towards his siblings? The last thing her baby needed to see was that. Would he even want to be a large part of Margret's life? Caroline could not imagine otherwise, the child charmed everyone she met, after all, but it was a concerning idea. Saturday would be a very telling day, and that was ignoring the whole Rebekah (and possibly Elijah) situation. God, just… It felt like everything had fallen apart within the past two days.

For the first time in ages, Caroline wondered if she was going legitimately insane.

-0-0-0-0-0-

This was it. It was time. It was Friday evening, Klaus would be at her home tomorrow, and she could not put this conversation off anymore. It was time to tell Margret.

Caroline had faith in her daughter's love for her. This would not change much of anything in their personal relationship. It was just… It was how Margret would react to everything else. This was going to be a very tumultuous time for her daughter, and the influence the Mikaelsons would bear upon the child were bound to be significant. She did not want her little girl to change, perhaps. At least, not for the negative.

She was not ready for this. She was not ready to turn Margret's world upside down in just a few words. _I found your father, sweetie._ That was all it would take. Five words. Five. Simple, Words. And then nothing would ever be the same again.

But yet, could she even go back now, without telling her daughter? Of course not. If she had ever wanted to keep Meggie from her father, aunt, and uncle, that could have been easily accomplished. They could have gone undercover and Margret could have been kept in the dark; nothing would have ever been complicated. For a brief moment, Caroline wished for the uninterrupted life that could have been, but that desire faded quickly. From the very beginning, after it became apparent that the Mikaelsons were either detained, or believed the child was dead, she had never intended to keep Margret's true identity from her. When the little girl was old enough to understand, Caroline told her the story of how she adopted her. The yellow book was made specifically to educate Margret upon her family's past.

No, keeping Meggie unaware had never been an option. Her moral code and sense of family would not allow that.

_Grow up, Caroline, _she told herself. _Do the hard thing like you always do, and just sit her down. Just get it over with. _"Meg?" She called out in the apartment. "Margret, could you come here please?"

The pitter-patter of little feet came down the hallway. "Yes, Mommy?"

"Mommy has some big news, sweetie." Caroline patted the spot beside her on the sofa. "And we need to have a talk."

"Is this about special secret business?" The five-year old's eyes grew wide. That was what Caroline had called it when they had the 'vampire' talk.

"Sort of." Caroline took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a breath. "Margret, I've found your father."

"What?" Margret cocked her head to the side, confused.

"The friends I ate dinner with the other day; that was your father, and his brother and sister."

"Where? I want to say hi!" She popped up off of the couch and ran to the door. Well, that was certainly not the reaction Caroline had been expecting.

"Meg, he's not here right now. He's coming over tomorrow." She stood, walking towards the front door.

"No!" The child stamped her foot and crossed her arms, the angry-pouty expression coming on. It would be adorable if Margret was not so strong-willed. "I want to see my daddy now!"

"Margret, you are going to have to wait. We have plans with him tomorrow, and that is that."

"I don't wanna wait!"

"I am truly sorry about that, but tonight you will go to bed, tomorrow morning we will take Nana to the airport, and then you can meet him. Not before." Caroline raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. Margret may be defiant at times, but she was still a small child. If all else failed, the naughty corner certainly worked.

Her daughter pouted, and looked at the floor. "Yes, Mommy."

"Good girl." Caroline picked her up. "I promise, you'll meet him tomorrow, okay?"

"Why hasn't he been with you and me, Mommy? Did the bad guys make him?" Margret laid her head on her mother's shoulder as Caroline took her back to her bedroom.

She sighed, pushing open the door to her child's bedroom. "The bad guys had him, yes, sweetie. But I'm sure he's very happy to meet you, and you can ask him all your questions tomorrow, alright Meg?" Her daughter nodded, and Caroline set her down before browsing in the closet. "Now, since it's your Nana's last night here before she goes back to her house, we're going to dinner. So, the important question is," she whirled, holding two tiny dresses, and smiling, "purple or green?"

Margret scrutinized the outfits in the same way Caroline herself always did, before perking up. "Purple! I want to wear purple!" She bounced on her toes, wiggling in excitement.

"Perfect! And, it's a color fit for a princess, just like you!"

* * *

**AN: This was shamelessly a filler chapter, I know. However, I felt it did a good job of capturing Caroline's fears, her and Margret's relationship, and their life in New York. So, please let me know what you think!**

**I am extremely pleased to say that my muse has come back after a _very_ long absence (thankfully I was ahead in writing this story, which is why updates continued), and now I am partway done with a VotF update, as well as chapter eight of this story. Basically, I know what happens when Klaus and Meggie finally meet, and all of you have to wait until Wednesday... :P Perks of being an author, right there. **

**Now, onto answering your commonly asked questions from last chapter!**

_**"What happened to Davina and Cami?" **_**Honestly, since they are never going to show up in this story again, I have no clue. However, they did not see the Mikaelsons before said family left NOLA.**

_**"Why did Elijah ask about Hayley's family? Is it because they had a thing?" **_**Haha... In this story, Haylijah never happened, and Katherine was still Elijah's love. It's the one part of canon that I warped and it may come up later. Anyways... Elijah asking about that was a test on Caroline's character. He may not know her very well, but given how she had spoken about Hayley minutes before, and a few hints she had dropped over the course of the evening, if Caroline had said she would have kept Baby Mikaelson, knowing of Hayley's family, it would have been a lie. **

_**"Is Caroline going to tell them Margret can transform into a wolf?" **_**This, as well as the whole Margret-is-a-hybrid issue, will come up in the next chapter.**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I hope this chapter did not disappoint! If it did, however, the next one will make up for it by leaps and bounds.**

**-Abi**


	8. the hands of a daughter

Previously on ABaD: _"…it's a color fit for a princess, just like you!"_

* * *

At precisely twelve-thirty that Saturday afternoon, there was a knock at the door.

All morning, Margret had been fidgety and unruly, buzzing around the apartment. She had fought with her mother about wanting to wear a party dress, when Caroline knew that they were going to the park. They ended up compromising on a play dress that was personally Caroline's favorite, but that was only the first of the antsy-child disagreements they would have that morning. Margret had eventually been settled down in her room to play until she was called. Caroline was just glad that her daughter's supernatural hearing was not due to kick in for another eight years or so. The last thing she needed was her child being able to hear everything going on.

Heading towards the door, the blonde paused at the mirror in the hallway. She took a deep breath, fluffed her hair, smoothed her blouse, and then took another unnecessary breath. She could do this. She was a strong, confident, and competent woman. She had gone toe-to-toe with Klaus before. This would be okay. Margret would be okay. Everything was going to go just fine.

Steeling herself, Caroline walked the remaining steps to the door, and opened it. Klaus was on the other side, looking more awkward and nervous than she had ever seen the normally-poised man. He began to speak, but she lifted up a finger and cut him off. Slipping a piece of paper out of her pocket, Caroline held it up. "This is a note from my mother inviting you in. I also had her prepare some for your siblings. However, before I hand it over and let any of you in my home, and therefore to my daughter, I need to know something." She was deadly serious, and purposefully kept her body language cold. She would be damned if any of them hurt her child.

"What would that be, love?" Klaus smirked, causing her to narrow her eyes.

"I want to know your intentions. If you're just here to take a quick look and then not be fully committed towards Margret, I will not allow it. I've been through the whole half-ass parenting thing, and I refuse to let her heart be broken." She was in full mama-bear mode, thank you very much, and was fully prepared to shut the door in his face if need be.

"Caroline." The Hybrid raised an eyebrow. "I once promised that the cycle of pain would stop with my daughter. I refuse to be like Mikael, and you have my word upon this." His eyes—Margret's eyes—stared into her own, and Caroline believed him. She believed him.

Nodding, she handed over the handwritten note, waited for him to read it, and then stepped back when he crossed the threshold. "So, this is it!" She smiled, looking around her spacious apartment. "This has been home since we first moved up here. Margret's in her bedroom playing. Oh!" Caroline turned back to look at Klaus. He was looking at the professional portrait she and Margret had gotten done the previous Mother's Day, the two of them wearing white dresses and dancing at the Botanical Gardens, but met her eyes. "I told her last night about the past few days, and she's very excited to meet you."

"I was not sure if you would wait to tell her, or inform her beforehand." Klaus said cryptically.

"Did you want me to wait? Because frankly, I felt it gave her a bit of time to get used to the idea." She raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious as to what he thought.

"I do not pretend to understand her thought processes, or even who she is as a person quite yet. I am sure your decision was the better one." That was not exactly an answer to her question, and Caroline was about to say just that, when she heard a crash from the kitchen. She disappeared half a second later, and reappeared in the kitchen, not even bothering to check if Klaus was behind her. No, all that mattered was the fact that her child was the only other one in the house, and something just broke.

Margret was standing in the kitchen, barefoot in a pile of glass, tears running down her face. "Mommy?" She looked up, bottom lip quivering. "I just wanna cup of juice. I'm sorry!" She burst into fresh tears, rubbing her eyes.

"Meg, just stay still, okay?" Caroline walked over, glass crunching under her feet. Tile floors really were unforgiving. She picked up her daughter, and headed to the kitchen table, where she sat Margret on top. She knelt down and carefully picked the pieces of glass off of her daughter's feet. "Did you climb up on the counter again?" She received a mournful nod in response.

"Am I in trouble?" Margret asked.

"No, sweetie, of course not. It was an accident, right?" Caroline brushed an errant curl off of Margret's forehead as the child nodded. "Next time let's not climb up on the counter, okay? It could be dangerous."

"I'll try to 'member." The little girl nodded again, scooting forward on the table and wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Caroline could tell when Margret noticed Klaus leaning against the doorway—he had been there nearly as long as she herself had been—and the child stiffened. "Mommy, that's…?"

Caroline pulled back and smiled. "Yes, sweetie, that is." She fixed her daughter's curls and brushed the tears and snot away with a napkin from the holder on the table. "Now, go say hello while I clean up the glass." She lifted Margret up and down to the floor before grabbing the broom and dustpan from the pantry.

Margret appeared to be studying Klaus, at least from what Caroline could see. Her daughter was a leader, but had always held a sense of cautiousness about her. She thought before acting, and had always weighed the options. The little girl approached her father carefully, looking up at him. "My name's Margret Rebekah Mikaelson. My friends call me Meggie." She stuck out her little hand, nails painted bubblegum pink.

Klaus crouched down, and Caroline was struck by the parallels between father and daughter. She had always known that Margret was similar to Klaus, but until the two were standing across from each other, it had never really been apparent until now. They held themselves the same, with an air of confidence and curiosity. Her eyes were unmistakably his, and they had the same cheekbones. At the same time, it was more than that. They just… It was obvious they were father and daughter. "My name is Niklaus Mikaelson, though most call me Klaus. It is lovely to finally meet you." His larger hand enveloped her tiny one, and they shook hands.

"Mommy says the bad guys took you." It could never be said that her child was not matter-of-fact, that much was certain.

"She is right. Our family is very powerful, you see, and some of our enemies captured me, and my brother and sister when we were surprised one day. We have been detained for the past five years, which is why we are just meeting now." Klaus was direct with Margret, which Caroline did appreciate. She herself had always been direct with her daughter. She put up the broom and dustpan, and moved towards them.

"Would you two want to take this into the living room? We can all sit down there, before we decide what to do." Caroline smiled, receiving a nod from both.

"Mommy said I'm an artist like you! See, I did that!" Margret stopped, pointing to one of her paintings on the wall. Caroline laughed lightly, sharing a look with Klaus.

"You are very talented. And yes, I assume you get that from me." He smiled. By now they were back in the living room. "Where was this picture taken?" He asked of the same picture of before. "I recognize it as similar to one in the scrapbook."

"Just before Mother's Day, this past spring." Caroline smiled. "We had never had real portraits done before, so a friend recommended a photographer, and we had them done. My mother suggested I use a traditional portrait to be the focal piece, but I loved this one too much."

"You both look quite lovely." Klaus said simply, a smile nearly touching his mouth.

"What do I call you?" Margret interrupted.

"Whatever you wish, I suppose. That's not up to me to decide." The Hybrid said.

"Then you're Daddy." She shrugged, before turning to her mother. "Is it time for lunch yet? I'm hungry."

Caroline suppressed a giggle at Klaus's confused expression. Margret could be very…nonchalant at times. "I believe we had discussed getting lunch out, correct?" She looked towards him, who nodded. "Meg, why don't you show your father your room, and we'll grab your coat."

"Alright, Mommy." Margret bounced up and took off back through a hallway. "Follow me!"

Caroline laughed as she stood up, Klaus doing the same. "I apologize; she's got a mind of her own."

"No, she… She's perfect." He complimented as they followed Margret.

"I can't thank the parenting books enough!" She teased. They arrived in front of a white door with Margret's name in patterned letters across it, and it was partway open. "Well, here it is!" Caroline smiled. "I take credit for the design, though a friend did help me with a bit of the décor." The room was painted a pale lilac, a white bed with a princess net over it to one wall. On above the bed, the quote 'Though she be but little, she is fierce' was painted in dark purple. An assortment of toys and books were arranged around the room, and both adults could hear Margret in the closet.

"Shakespeare?" Klaus asked, nodding towards the quote.

"_A Midsummer Night's Dream_ is one of my favorites. When decorating, I found the quote to be quite indicative of Meg's personality." Caroline shrugged, smiling.

"He was an interesting man." Klaus mused. "You would have liked him."

"That's right… You're like a billion. Of course you knew Shakespeare." She rolled her eyes, avoiding the fact that he was looking at the drawing he had given her so many years before. The simple piece of paper—a mere girl and pony—had meant so much to Caroline. It was one of the most touching gifts she had received, which was why she framed it, and placed it on Margret's bedside table. The drawing was one of the only pieces of physical evidence they had had of Klaus over the years, and it had become a treasured piece. Of course, Klaus was not going to be informed of said bit of information anytime soon.

"Mommy, I can't find my earmuffs!" Margret whined, walking out of the closet, a pair of brown little boots on her feet, and coat halfway on.

"That's because they're still by the front door where you left them yesterday, sweetie." Caroline said. "Now, come here and let me button your coat." She crouched down and buttoned the thick coat, and readjusted her daughter's hair. "Perfect."

"Shall we leave, then?" Klaus asked, an expression on his face that Caroline dared not decipher.

"We shall!"

-0-0-0-0-0-

Sometime later, after lunch had been consumed—though mainly by Margret, considering both adults did not need to actually eat, and therefore picked at appetizers—all three individuals were walking through Central Park, heading to the usual playground. Margret was skipping ahead, stopping at every statue and saying hello to strangers, and Klaus and Caroline were walking a slight distance behind, talking and keeping an eye on her.

"I must ask, love, as it is quite pertinent information. Is Margret a hybrid? I know some witch had said so, during the pregnancy." Klaus asked.

"She is." Caroline confirmed. "Though not right now. From what I was told by the witch we get our yearly magical concealment from, she will not get any more abilities until puberty, which is going to be _so much fun_, because normal hormones aren't enough, right? She has about a 25% chance of any magic developing, but if she triggers the curse or turns, that will go away. I asked about if she ever decides to turn, and Cassiopeia informed me that she would be a hybrid automatically, without the need for doppelganger blood." She paused to take a breath. "She's shown a few signs of supernaturalism, though nothing major. Meg's more resilient against modern sicknesses, and if she gets a cut or bruise, it heals within an hour or so. And… She can shift into a wolf."

"Excuse me?" Klaus asked, somewhat amused. "A wolf."

"I kid you not, that little munchkin turns into about fifteen pounds of furry and yappy baby wolf. " Caroline said.

"Is it…painful? Her shift?"

"No. She first turned when she was two, and has only done it half a dozen times since then. Mainly during thunderstorms, though she'll occasionally shift when really angry or upset." When Caroline saw the concern in his eyes, she softened. "Truly, I don't think it's painful. More like a…different personality. She keeps the awareness of who she is, and if she breaks anything, it is not apparent. I think she's fine."

Klaus nodded. Caroline did not like that she had a hard time reading him now. Clearly she was out of practice. "She is definitely a very happy child. I… I'm glad it was you who raised her."

"What?" Caroline was more than a bit confused. "You don't prefer that you had been around to see her earliest moments?"

He sighed. "Let me rephrase that. Of course I would preferred to be there for every moment, however reluctant I was in the beginning to even have a child. However, I do fear Margret might not have turned out quite as…lovely of a child had she been under my family or Hayley's care. That is what I mean." Klaus gave her a look. "New Orleans was a battlefield when we were residing in the town. It was not an environment for a child to be raised in, and I did not wish for my child to grow in town where blood ran free, and she was in danger from every corner."

Well, she could agree with that point. Besides, it was good reasoning. "I swear to you, she has grown up untouched from anything of the sort. The closest she has ever seen to killing was when I would have to feed in front of her as an infant, and even then nothing happened. She's still an innocent in all of this." He nodded, agreeing with her. The next question she had… It was going to be interesting. "Did… Did you love Hayley? I mean, this is probably an entirely inappropriate question, and I'm most likely totally asking too much, but I just…" Caroline ran a hand through her hair, letting out a huff. God, this was hard. And confusing. "I will not discount our history together, and I will not deny that it influenced my decision whether or not to actually keep Margret with me, instead of finding another option." She focused on the little girl ahead of them, avoiding his eyes. "But I just need to know if you kept asking me to come down to New Orleans, only for me to find you playing happy family with my worst enemy. I mean, it hurt enough when _Tyler_ was the one to tell me about the whole thing, and even that was after…well, you know, but seeing something like that would have hurt me terribly."

"Caroline, I loathed Hayley." She turned towards him. Well, this was slightly better than expected. "I would have killed her the moment was told the news, had Elijah not declared my child 'the redemption of our family' and therefore she was untouchable."

"Redemption? Really?" The blonde burst into giggles. "She's a little kid, not your savior. Meg can no more 'redeem' the three of you than the Pope can."

"My brother takes this train of thought very seriously, sweetheart. He may side with Rebekah in an endeavor to acquire Margret, just to hypothetically fix our family. It's a futile attempt, true, but it is a possibility." Klaus was very serious, and it sobered her up.

Caroline turned to him, eyes on fire. "Then they will have to get through me first, and trust me, that is not something anyone wants to see."

"I can believe it, love. I believe you."

* * *

**AN: So... Anyone happy with this chapter? I really had fun writing it, and I think it's my new favorite, to be honest.**

**I'm not entirely sure where next chapter is going to go, since I finished up my pre-planning with this chapter, but I have a few ideas. Anyways, I'm going to keep this AN short because I got stung by a bee yesterday on my finger and it feels really strange to type, so yeah. Enjoy this chapter, and I hope it did well! I really love the interactions between Klaus, Caroline, and Margret, so there will certainly be more to come!**

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**-Abi**


	9. she's a daydreamer

Previously on ABaD: _"__I can believe it, love. I believe you."_

* * *

"You're still coming over, right?" The phone was smushed between her ear and her shoulder, as Caroline danced around Margret's bedroom, getting her things ready for school. It was early on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and the first day back. "I figured we could pick her up from school and I could give you a bit of mental preparation before you're put through the third degree interrogation."

"I highly doubt a group of geriatric women will intimidate me, sweetheart." Klaus's laugh was slightly distorted over the phone.

"That wasn't an answer to my question."

"What time does Margret finish school?" Caroline rolled her eyes, knowing that was as close to a 'yes' as she was going to get.

"2:15. Actually… Meet me at 1:45 in Grand Central. I've got an errand to run, and the school is only like two stops over from there."

"Will do, love." An eruption of voices came from the other end of the line, and Caroline pulled the phone away from her ear, checking it briefly before putting it back. Klaus's voice reappeared moment later. "I apologize, but it appears my sister has just realized who I am speaking with, and she is quite irate."

"Just don't dagger her. Meg would like to meet her, you know." She teased.

"Using my daughter against me? Low blow, Caroline." He laughed, and she joined in.

"I'll see you this afternoon. Bye!" Caroline said, hanging up. She looked down at her still-asleep child, and shook her gently. "Meggie, it's time to wake up." All she got in response was a wrinkle of the nose and a grumble. Oh, how she loved school mornings.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"So, this is where Margret goes to school? I must say, I find it more pleasing than Mystic Falls High." Klaus commented. Caroline rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. She and Klaus had just arrived in front of Margret's school, and were waiting for the kindergarten to release for the day. A few other parents—and quite a few nannies—were standing around as well.

She checked her watch. 2:12. "I was not a fan of any of the public schools around my apartment, so when the applications opened up last spring, I started looking into private schools. We eventually settled on this one, and Margret is excelling." Caroline smiled proudly. "I mean, she's not a prodigy or anything, but she is above-average."

"She is a Mikaelson by birth, sweetheart. Of course she is." He smirked. "Of course, do not discredit your influence. I know all about that 4.5 you graduated with. From both high school and college, for that matter. You are more intelligent than you let on."

Caroline's jaw dropped. "You looked into my school records!" She shrieked, smacking him on the shoulder lightly. How did he even have time for this stuff? High school she could understand, but college? He would have had like…two days to figure that stuff out. "That could be constituted as stalkerish behavior, you know!"

"I was bored." He shrugged, clearly amused. Caroline pursed her lips and crossed her arms. God, he could be so childish at times.

"You should take up a hobby, then. It's a common need in senior citizens." She raised an eyebrow. Take that, Mr. Snarky-Pants. … Oh, god. Did she seriously just think that? _I'm turning into my child. Maybe I should take up a hobby,_ she told herself. Klaus just gave her a look, and seemed to be about to reply, when hoards of young children poured out of the front doors of the school and into the gated courtyard. Margret was one of the last to come out, about four little girls on her heels. Their child and her friends had taken up residence at one of the tables, and were chattering among themselves.

"She has a few friends, I see." Klaus said.

"She does. Margret has always been well-liked." Caroline agreed. "See that little boy a few feet away from her? The blond?" She pointed him out, and Klaus nodded. "That would be one Thomas Wilson. He's been pursuing Margret in the way that five year old boys do, and they've been sent to the Headmistress on more than one occasion. Meg isn't fond of being annoyed as a form of twisted premature courtship, it seems. She poured paint on him in art class after he did the whole 'I'm not touching you but I'm going to hold this paint-covered brush an inch away from your face' routine."

Klaus made an amused noise, those blasted dimples making a brief appearance. "Margret has fire in her."

"It's always been apparent who her family is, I'll just say that." Caroline laughed lightly, leaving her comment as either an insult or a compliment.

Klaus turned towards her, and she almost took a step back because of the look in his eyes. Oh, she knew that look. That was _the _look. "Actually, I believe her fire came from you, Caroline."

A blush started to make it way across her face, and Caroline fought it back, smiling, and a bit touched. "Thank you." Now, how to prevent awkward moments? "We probably should go get Meg. It's close to the time I told the 'grandmas' we would meet them." He nodded, and followed her up to the gates. Caroline quickly signed her daughter out, and once her name was called and goodbyes between her and her friends had been exchanged, Margret came skipping over.

"Hi Mommy!" The blue ribbons on her pigtails fluttered with every step she took, and the smile on the child's face explained what kind of day she had had. "We had art today, and Miss Roberts hung my drawing on the art board! And I got a gold star for answering a question! Oh, and Katie got stung by a bee and she cried a lot and her aunt came to pick her up. I don't think I like bees." She then saw the other person who had come to pick her up, grinned. Margret wrapped her arms around her father, giving him as much of a hug as she could manage at her height. "Hi Daddy!"

Caroline giggled at Klaus's 'What the hell do I do now' expression. "Hug her back." She mouthed, thoroughly amused. Though he and Margret had interacted before, she had never hugged him. The Mikaelsons were not exactly a touchy-feely family either… It must have been years since someone gave him a hug. That made her sad… Caroline was quite fond of hugs.

Klaus crouched down and gave Margret a somewhat delicate hug, as if he was afraid she would shatter by his mere touch. He held the back of her head as one does when holding infants, like she was the most precious thing on the planet. And, to the both of them, Caroline felt that she was. Being a parent was like nothing other.

The father and daughter stood back up, her little hand enveloped in his. They turned to her. "Are you ready to go, love?" Klaus asked.

"Absolutely." Caroline smiled. And, with that, the three supernatural beings walked away from the school.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I'm going to warn you… These ladies are very close to both Margret and I. It's going to be as if you're going through an interview with five very angry fathers. At once." Caroline said, giving Klaus one of her looks. Margret had maneuvered herself between them, and was holding one of each of their hands while they headed to the restaurant they had planned to meet at.

"I am still wondering who exactly I will be meeting today. All I have heard is disastrous things, which is not giving me a very good impression of them." If it was not for his tone, Caroline would have thought him to be genuinely concerned. However, he was doing that teasing-without-overtly-teasing thing he did. "How did you even get involved with a group of women…forty to fifty years older than you?"

"It was about…five or six months after we moved up here. Meg," The little girl looked up at the mention of her name, and Caroline winked at her, sharing a smile, "was cutting teeth, and I was about to lose my mind from lack of sleep and constant screaming. Anyways, I went on a coffee run, and there they were. It was the start of a beautiful friendship, isn't that right, sweetie?"

"My grandmas are really, really, cool. And they give me peppermints." Margret laughed, a devilish glint in her childish eyes.

"My mom was never able to be here more than three or four times a year, and all but one of the ladies have children far away. They're also all either widows, unmarried, divorced, etc., so Margret and I have formed our own makeshift little family with them. Honestly, I can't tell you that I would have made it without their support and knowledge." Caroline said, very seriously. Parenting had been a _huge_ transition for her, and the assistance she had received in the form of advice and the occasional babysitter from this group was a debt she could never repay. It would not be something she ever forgot.

"I see." Klaus's expression had gone unreadable again.

"Oh, you probably should know something." Caroline smirked, figuring she could get away with this now that the restaurant was within view.

"What would that be?"

"You've been in the Peace Corps for the last six years." _Hold that straight face, Caroline. Hold it, _she told herself. It would make his reaction so much better.

"Excuse me?" Klaus asked, and Caroline lost it.

"I needed to make up a cover story, and it was what worked." She had managed to regain some of her composure, but Caroline could not wipe the smirk off of her face. "To my credit, I did 'send' Elijah and Rebekah with you, so you three have spent the past six years teaching English in remote locations around the world."

"I was around when the English language was invented." He grumbled.

"Well, it was either that, or you were in prison, or just a soulless…well, someone who would knock me up and then leave without a trace." Caroline had done her best not to swear in front of her child, and it would stay that way, thank you very much. "I needed a good reason as to why you were not present, and considering the fact that 'most likely held captive—though I'm really not entirely sure about that, or anything, at this exact point—by a coven of psychotic witches who are also after my adoptive child, and possibly everyone I know' would have just resulted in a huge mess and a lot of compulsion." Ouch. That had gone towards the slightly more neurotic route. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm down. "Sorry. It's been very…stressful lately."

"There is no need. Perhaps it is I wh—" Klaus started, but she cut him off.

"No. No, there's no need. What's done is done." Caroline said as they arrived at the doors of the restaurant. The topic was clearly closed from that moment on, as the three walked inside.

Introductions were made, orders were placed, and the questions began to fly. Joan, Helena, Navya, Eva, and Violet were situated in a way so as to optimize the amount of tension they could create, isolating Klaus amongst them while Caroline and Margret sat on the other side, the picture of happiness. To an ordinary human man, Caroline supposed the interrogation would have sent them running, but this was _Klaus_ for god's sake. He was the Original Hybrid, and that had never changed. Even when it came to the incredibly strange questions, he never flinched.

Though, he did flash those panty-dropping dimples on more than one occasion, melting a few hearts at the table in the process. Eva had even wondered if those dimples were the reason for Margret existing or if it was for _other_ reasons, said of course by whisper in her ear, and the look Klaus had given her afterwards had Caroline covering up both a blush and a laugh. Damn him and his supernatural hearing. And damn her tomato-red blushing genetics. Was it even supposed to be possible for vampires to blush?

After the most awkward rest of the dinner ever—because he kept giving her _that_ look that he had given her during _that_ time in the forest, and seriously, that look did things to her—Caroline, Klaus, and Margret left. It was about Margret's bedtime by the time they arrived back home, and so Caroline left the father and daughter to themselves for a little while, and did a bit of minor tidying and her own preparations for bed. They needed to spend some one-on-one time together, anyways. It was a good thing. It was just… She could not help but wonder if she was losing Margret. She had always been the main figure in her—their—daughter's life, always had been the most important and the most special, and now… Meg had a father. A father who intended to be present and was willing to do things like read bedtime stories and pick her up from school, and take her to that father/daughter dance she had told them about during their walk after school.

And truly, those were all good things. She was very supportive of the blossoming relationship between Margret and Klaus, and was more than glad that Klaus was willing to be involved. It was just… Caroline could not figure out if she had gained a partner, or lost part of her daughter, in the process.

* * *

**AN: I must say, I'm not entirely sure if this was filler or a big step towards both the relationship between Klaus/Margret and Klaroline. I'm not entirely sure. Then again, I wrote the majority of this chapter last night on a Reese's Cup high, so... Yeah. Anyways, I'd love to hear what you all think!**

**One very sad announcement... This story will be ending with chapter 12. I sat down on Thursday to plan out the rest of this story, and I realized that I did not really see a way to drag the story out longer to get to the ending I want. However, right now, the next posting is scheduled for July 16th, simply because July 4th-10th I will be at summer camp and unable to post or write anything. I may get something up on July 2nd, but please, don't count on it. An epilogue will be posted in the form of a separate oneshot I have planned out already, and it's very much feelsy and Klaus-filled.**

**On a happier note, however, for those of you who have read _A Tree Called Life_, you know that I made more than a few references to the time Katherine and Elijah spent together in London. My next story-which will be planned and written as soon as this one is finished-will be about them. For those of you who are not familiar with what I am talking about, it's basically the time during TVD S4 that Kalijah reconnected and got up to a lot of sexy times and other stuff. So, that's what I'll be doing. If you haven't read ATCL, then go do it! It's filled with Klaroline, Kalijah, and a bit of Kennett thrown in for good measure. And it's a deeper story than this one.**

**Anyways, that's all I have to say. Thank you all for reading and reviewing _Always Been A Daughter_, as it truly means a lot to me.**

**-Abi**


	10. biting my tongue

Previously on ABaD: _'Caroline could not figure out if she had gained a partner, or lost part of her daughter, in the process.'_

* * *

It was early on what was to be a lazy Saturday morning in Caroline's household, when she was awoken to a dreadful banging on her front door. It was clearly a person, due to the patterns of knocking, and likely an irritated one at that. Caroline rubbed her eyes, and looked out through the peephole. Lovely. It was the other two Originals.

She yanked open the door and crossed her arms. Thank god she at least looked semi-decent. "It's a Saturday, and people are trying to sleep."

"It's been nearly three weeks since you told me about my niece, and I still haven't seen her." Rebekah spat. "Niklaus has been over here nearly every afternoon and it is not bloody fair. Now," She raised her hand and tapped the barrier, "invite me in before I compel you to do it."

"You won't be able to." Caroline smirked. "I had vervain embedded in my daylight ring. Now, do you think you can be quiet before you wake Margret up?"

Rebekah started to answer, but Elijah cut her off. "Silence, sister." He said.

Caroline leaned against the wall, and pressed a number on her phone. It was too early to be dealing with this. What happened to a nice weekend where she could lay around in pajamas and watch Disney movies with Meg? Oh, that's right. Rebekah and Elijah happened. Lovely. "Klaus?" She asked when he picked up. "It seems your siblings figured out where I live, and they ever-so-courteously decided to bang on my door at seven in the morning. On a _Saturday_. My weekends are precious to me, thank you very much! Just get over here before I make you explain to a very curious five year old why she has to wave at her aunt and uncle through the doorway because Mommy doesn't trust them to not snatch her away to Timbuktu. That's a conversation I will _not_ be having." Caroline ended the call, pushing the screen of her phone with a bit more force than necessary. She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand, before turning back to the other two Originals. "Look, your brother won't be here for half an hour. And, well, not to be a bitch or anything, but neither of you are entering until I have someone here who I can trust."

"How polite, Caroline. I expected a muffin and a cup of coffee from Miss Southern Belle." Rebekah crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"You've mentioned multiple times that you want to pack my _daughter_ up and just take over like her entire life never happened. Consequently, I trust you about as far as Margret can throw you, which is about an inch." The other blonde rolled her eyes, running a hand through her messy bed-tousled hair. "And you…" She then turned to Elijah, who was as pristine as she had ever seen him, in that usual suit. The next words came out of her mouth as, in her irritated and half-asleep state, Caroline forgot that certain things were not supposed to be said. "I don't know you personally, but I roomed with an expert on your life for a good two weeks. I've heard how you make promises and then break them." Hold up… Wasn't there something in the girl code about that night…

"Katerina…" Elijah trailed off, causing Rebekah to sigh. "Was she here?"

Caroline squeaked, clapping a hand over her mouth. Well, she was awake now. Shit. He didn't know. And after the Tequila Incident Katherine had told her pretty much everything so… "Oops." Before she got a chance to elaborate further, Margret's tiny voice started calling for her from the bedroom. "Um… You know what? Rebekah, I'll let you handle this one. Or I can explain once you both get back. Just like… Go grab coffee or something for like thirty minutes because I've got to get both Meg and I dressed and then she eats first thing in the morning so just… Half an hour, okay? Okay." With that, Caroline slammed the door closed. Ohmygod Katherine herself was probably glaring down on her from beyond the grave. This wasn't going to be pretty.

-0-0-0-0-0-

It was not even twenty minutes later when Caroline heard three familiar—raised—voices outside her front door, and she rolled her eyes. "Meg, finish up your breakfast. There's someone at the door."

"Alright Mommy!" The child shrugged, stabbing a strawberry with her fork. Caroline straightened Margret's headband before walking towards the foyer, brushing any possible imperfections off of her clothes as she went. She opened her front door to a very interesting tableau. Klaus had Elijah against the wall of the hallway by his throat, and the brothers were glaring at each other. Rebekah seemed to be somewhere in-between pissed and guilty, and it had been her voice Caroline had heard earlier. Yeah, the whole Katherine-bomb had _clearly_ been dropped. Whoops.

"Would you three please be quiet? I do live here, you know." She hissed. "I'd like to not have to go around compelling my neighbors if at all possible."

"This is your fault, you know. If you would have just kept your mouth shut, nothing would have happened!" Rebekah did lower her tone slightly.

"A bit's my fault, yes. But how was I supposed to know the reason he didn't come visit her was because he didn't know, and not because he was being a douche! Communication is a great thing, Rebekah!" Caroline huffed. "Now, Klaus, put your brother down." He rolled his eyes but complied. She knew that he knew it was best not to make any more of a scene. There was a curious child just inside, after all.

"Is Margret awake?" Klaus asked, avoiding his siblings' eyes.

"She's finishing up breakfast. I'm sure you'll be a nice surprise this morning." Caroline smiled, nodding her head towards the door. He nodded, briefly smiling, before heading inside the apartment. Margret's delighted squeals of "Daddy!" could be heard mere seconds later.

"She loves him." Elijah observed. "And he loves her."

"Your brother is capable of much more emotion than either of you give him credit for." Caroline raised an eyebrow disapprovingly at the other Originals. "He does not need to be saved."

"Can we just go meet her, already?" Rebekah shifted her weight impatiently.

"Fine." Caroline handed over the notes from her mother to each of them. "That will invite you in. Don't try anything, Rebekah, because you really do not want to mess with me, or your brother, when Margret is on the line." The older blonde flipped her hair and walked inside, her brother following. "Elijah, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"You may." He gave her one of those cold looks that he apparently gave everyone.

"I… I'm sorry for this morning. I should have thought before I spoke."

"You should have."

Caroline gave a mental sigh. It was like talking to a brick wall. But then again, he had every reason to be pissed at her. "Rebekah's version of Katherine's…death is probably wrong, just so you know. She didn't die on a bed, sick and human." It appeared that she now had Elijah's attention. "She went out in a blaze of glory, I suppose you could say."

"Please explain." Elijah said.

"Katherine was a member of an ancient race called the Travelers. She, I think the term is 'passengered', herself into Elena the day we all thought she died. She fooled everyone for weeks, reconnected with her daughter, Nadia, and went to way too many frat parties to count. She danced on bars, made friends, and got to be beautiful and a vampire once more. And when she went out, she did so five minutes after her daughter. I'm choosing to believe they're happy together on the Other Side somewhere." Caroline pursed her lips, not knowing what else to do.

"For someone who was supposed to loathe Katerina, you speak quite highly of her." Elijah pointed out.

"I still kind of loathe her a bit, considering she did smother me with a pillow. But, it's because of her that I'm here today, so I also admire her in a way. And Katherine's probably making some bitchy comment at me right now from wherever she is, but after an incident back when she was human that involved _way_ too much tequila and ended in a bunch of drunken ramblings… She did love you." She turned towards the door, sensing it was time to end this conversation. "Now, I'm sure you would love to meet your niece." Caroline received a brief nod in response before Elijah entered in the apartment.

* * *

Klaus, Margret, and Rebekah were sitting in the living room, and the latter was questioning her niece. "Meg, I've got someone else for you to meet!" Caroline smiled. "This is your Uncle Elijah." The child came over and introduced herself, and Caroline sat beside Klaus on the sofa. Elijah soon joined Rebekah, and they continued to question Margret. However, it became painfully aware that neither was used to dealing with young children due to what they were asking the child.

"Do you wish to travel anyplace?" Rebekah asked, causing Margret to turn to her mother.

"She means 'Where you want to take a vacation?'." Caroline bit back a smile at her daughter's expression. It was somewhere between 'kinda confused' and 'weirded out by the British lady'.

"Oh!" Margret nodded. "I want to go to the other Disney. We went to Disney with Nana at Christmas, but Mommy says there's another one with a pink castle, and because pink's my second favorite color after purple I want to go there next." She said all of this completely seriously, rambling on in a way that Liz had labeled 'all Caroline'. "Mommy, can I go put my princess dress on? I want to show Auntie Bekah." Her mother nodded, and the child ran off and came back a few moments later, tugging a dress on over her clothes. "See? It's Princess Rapunzel's dress even though Princess Tiana is my favorite because I like purple better than green."

"It looks lovely, darling, though cheaply made. I could have her one done by my dressmaker out of actual silk and not…whatever that is." Rebekah raised an eyebrow.

"Rebekah, she's five. It's a costume. That's like the third one we're on; what you're talking about is ridiculous. She's a child." Caroline cut in. Margret just stood there confused, the adult conversation mostly going over her head.

"She would be considered royalty by many. She's not just any child." Rebekah shot back. "She deserves the best of everything in life."

"Are you calling me a bad parent?" Caroline stood up. "Because if so, then we need to have this discussion somewhere else."

"I just want my niece back where she belongs, Caroline." Rebekah stood as well. "And we both know it's not with you."

"Sister, you would do to think before you speak." Klaus said coldly.

"Daddy, what does Auntie Bekah mean?" A little voice piped up from the couch, eyes wide. The room went silent, and everyone looked at each other awkwardly.

"I just…think it would be nice if you spent some time with me. We could have so much fun and go shopping and you wouldn't have to go to school anymore!" Rebekah smiled brightly, and Caroline internally face-palmed herself. Yeah, that wasn't the right approach.

"I like school." Margret said.

"Well then you could go to school! And we would have an awesome time, like a sleepover every night!"

"Mommy says I can't go to sleepovers until I stop wetting the bed." Margret shrugged. "I designed a bedroom for you!" The Original seemed to be getting desperate. "You would love living with me!"

With those fatal words, it seemed to dawn on Margret what was being hinted at. "I don't wanna live with you!" She shrieked. "I wanna live with Mommy and Daddy!" Yeah, that just made everything get even more awkward all of a sudden. "Daddy, don't let her take me away!" Margret ran back to her father, bursting into tears, and Caroline ran a hand over her face. Was it too much to ask for her child to have a normal family? She felt a bit of pity for Rebekah, who was clearly hurt. Though her actions were not the best—and Elijah wasn't helping any by just sitting there and jumping in with the occasional question—she clearly just wanted her family whole once more. It was not something Caroline could really fault.

"Perhaps you two should go now… We can try this another time." Caroline recovered the situation. She and Klaus had an upset child to deal with now.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A few evenings after the disastrous event the Mikaelsons called a family reunion—though thankfully, after seeing her niece flip out, Rebekah had backed off and things were somewhat resolved—Caroline and Klaus were finally taking an evening for themselves. Really, it was a long time coming. There was something undeniable between the two of them; frankly, there always had been. It had all come to a head during that one day in the woods so many years ago, and even now, it was like nothing had changed since that moment.

Of course, as individuals, they had both changed. It would be ridiculous to say they had not, after all. Caroline had spent her time being a parent, and Klaus had… Well, she still was not clear on what exactly he had been up to during those years. Whatever it was, it was not pleasant, she could tell that much. But between them… The chemistry was still present. The feelings—on her side, at least—seemed to have intensified. And most importantly, there was literally nothing standing in their way.

The evening was also doubling as an attempt for Margret to spend a few hours with her aunt and uncle without either of her parents present, and Caroline was looking forward to seeing how the ancient vampires dealt with a young child who they did not really know. It was going to be interesting, at the very least.

"I still think Rebekah should have watched Meg at my place. It'll be easier for her to acclimate in a familiar environment." Caroline said as she and Klaus sat down at their table in the restaurant.

"After a thousand years, love, I've learned that one does not tell my sister to do anything. It would be completely futile." He gave a derisive snort.

"You're such a fatalist."

"And you're too optimistic." Klaus shot back.

They made small talk for quite some time, laughing over the havoc Margret was probably wreaking on his siblings, and making not-very-appropriate comments about how…_tasty_…some of the other patrons of the restaurant appeared. Of course, that was mainly Klaus needling her on purpose, and Caroline taking the bait without fail, but it was amusing by the end of the conversation. They had also extensively discussed Margret, Margret and them, and their child's relationship with his siblings. It was partway through dessert—when both were mostly just sipping on wine and toying with whatever confection they had left—that they finally made it to the more serious topics.

"So, Caroline, where do we go from here?" Klaus asked, expression guarded as he faced her.

There was no explanation needed; she knew what he was asking. Well, mostly. She hoped. "As for us, like _us_, I… I would like to give us a try. If I'm not like reading too much into this and totally just stuck my foot in it, that is."

Klaus gave her that look. "You did not. And that would be…more than favorable to me, as well." He smirked.

"Good." Caroline bit her lip, meeting his eyes.

"Good." He retorted. They exchanged heated looks, and Klaus signaled for the check. Minutes later they were out in the freezing air, barely keeping their hands off of each other as they hurried the short walk back to her place. "How much longer until we need to pick up Margret?" Klaus asked as he pressed Caroline up against her front door, the two of them making out like teenagers.

"I told Rebekah to put her to bed so… At least a few hours." Caroline grinned as he picked her up, her legs wrapped around his waist, kicking her front door closed behind him. She grabbed Klaus's face in her hands and kissed him once more while he walked her to her room. "Do you just run into the hall table?" She giggled, looking over his shoulder.

"Probably." Klaus laughed along, giving her another one of _those_ looks, which Caroline was now sure meant that he was totally and utterly in love with her. She quite liked those looks.

"Just shut up and kiss me." And he did so, giving her a kiss that Caroline felt down to the tips of her toes. If this was love… Well, everything would be perfect.

* * *

**AN: Um... Wow. What a way to end a back-from-hiatus chapter! ****I survived camp, clearly, and it was way more fun that I thought it would be! Actually, my camp was where the arena in The Hunger Games was filmed, which was like super awesome. Fun Abigail Fact for the day, much? **

******Can I just say that that was not where I had intended to go with this chapter... Oh well! Blame the muse. Either way, Klaus and Caroline ended up have sexytimes for the next couple of hours before Meg needed to be picked up so... Give me your thoughts! Seriously, though, I meant for this to end with like a huge emotional discussion between Klaroline and then I went to write it and my muse was like "Haha no". **

******Oh, I had a reader ask me about why I didn't write Meg with excessive amounts of baby language and crying and whatnot, and I figured I would answer that. I have a sister who's nine years younger than me-she's nearly eight now-and being the oldest, I help my mom out a lot with her. Anyways, Margret's actions and development-especially in Chapter 3-are based upon my sister and some little cousins of mine. Kids pick up on a lot from their parents and other influences, which is why you can see Meg always saying "Mommy said" and having a lot of Caroline's habits and actions. Anyways, that was your child psychology moment for the day! I seriously need to stop rambling.**

******To those of you wanting more Klaus/Meggie time on their own... Well, since this story is in Caroline's POV we won't really see much of that. However, the oneshot/epilogue that I have planned will satisfy that desire for everyone!**

******Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, and special thanks to the marvelous klaroline-fantasies for the amazing cover art!**

******-Abi**


	11. a daughter is a daughter all of her life

Previously on ABaD: _"Just shut up and kiss me."_

* * *

It had been about two weeks after Klaus and Caroline had…consummated their relationship, and it was like Caroline was walking on air. It was like something she had not even known was missing was back, and Caroline could not going back to how it was before. She and Klaus were nearly _too_ happy with each other, and Margret was just enjoying the fact that her daddy was there in the morning some days.

At first they had attempted to take things slow, but, well, that failed. They had pretty much been in the 'slow' category for years by now, and both were ready to jump in feet-first. And so they did.

She had been worried about how Margret was going to take them being together—it was yet another transition in a month of transitions, and Caroline was worried it would be another emotional toll. However, Margret had just shrugged and been all 'why does this concern me' when they had told her. Sometimes… Sometimes her daughter could be a very nonchalant child. Now that she and Klaus were together, to the outside world, not much had changed. If anything, it was only minute changes. Instead of staying separate while walking with Margret, they held hands. They kissed in public every so often, which never failed to get a fountain of giggles from their daughter because, "Boys have cooties, Mommy".

Klaus had also become a great deal more comfortable with Margret, and now that Caroline was working at the art museum a few days out of the week, he spent nearly every afternoon with her. He was also teaching her how to paint, and Caroline would go over to a studio he owned some afternoons and find the both of them painting the evening away. It was really adorable, actually.

Rebekah had announced that she was planning a Christmas ball, and inviting quite a few of the family's associates, and so Caroline decided to set something up for her daughter. She and Klaus had worked out all of the details, and while she was waiting for him to actually arrive at her apartment, she got Margret in a dancing mood. _Enchanted_ did work perfectly for situations such as this.

And, that was how Klaus found them. She had given him a key a while back, and since the television was blaring, she did not hear him enter. When Caroline finally did become aware of his presence, it was midway through jumping around and singing "That's How You Know" like a fool. Talk about mortifying.

"Daddy!" Margret squealed a few moments after Caroline stopped dancing, running to him. In a movement that made Caroline's heart melt into a big gooey puddle, Klaus picked up Meg mid-run, and she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Mommy didn't tell me you were coming!" She giggled as she was set down.

"That's because your mother and I put together a surprise for you." Klaus gave Caroline a quick kiss as she came to stand beside him.

"You saw the invitation we got in the mail the other day from your Auntie Bekah, right Meg?" She asked.

"To the princess ball! It had pretty paper." Margret nodded excitedly.

"Well, considering you will be able to be at part of the party, I figured your father could give you dancing lessons." Their daughter shrieked at this, giggling and bouncing on her toes.

"Like a princess, Mommy? You can teach me to dance like a real princess?"

Caroline simply smiled and fiddled with the sound system, pausing the movie and putting on some classical music. She sat down on the arm of the couch, watching as Klaus bowed to their giggling child, arm outstretched like a prince from the fairytales she so loved.

"Miss Mikaelson, would you kindly do me the honor of a dance?" He asked.

"Mommy, what do I do?" Margret stage-whispered, causing Caroline to hold back laughter.

"Well, I believe the proper response is to curtsy, and then accept the dance." She said.

"I do not recall ever getting a curtsy out of you." Klaus said, raising an eyebrow.

"And I don't recall ever getting such a polite request." Caroline shot back.

Margret just looked between her parents, and rolled her eyes before giving a curtsy and taking her father's hand. Caroline watched as Meg stumbled through the first few steps of a basic waltz, before Klaus had her stand on his feet as they danced.

It was one of the tenderest moments she had seen between the two. She recalled dancing with her father—and grandfather, for that matter—in a similar manner as a child, and simple times like these were always the best moments.

Until years after her father left, Caroline had never really realized how important the relationship between a father and daughter was. A father was the first impression a daughter would ever get of the opposite gender, and how he treated her would likely be how she would let boys treat her. Caroline occasionally wondered if her pretty terrible history with men—and how she used to let them walk all over her—had stemmed from her father leaving. It would not surprise her, at least.

The mistakes their parents had made, and how to not make them, was been something she and Klaus had discussed at dinner. Esther and Mikael were probably some of the shittiest parents to ever walk the earth, and her own parents, while they had done much better in comparison, were not great. One parent abandoning their child for their lover, and the other abandoning their child for their work did not good parenting make. Even though Caroline and her mother had a better relationship than ever, it took seven years after her father left and one transition into a vampire to get them even really _speaking_ again.

No, she and Klaus were determined to not repeat the sins of their parents. They could not mess this up.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"I must say, Rebekah, you do throw a lovely party." Caroline complimented as she, Klaus, and Margret walked into Rebekah's soiree. Her penthouse was lavishly decorated in some of the most beautiful Christmas decorations Caroline had ever seen, and the tree was to die for. There were around twenty to thirty people milling about the apartment, all vampires from what she could hear—heartbeats, or the lack thereof, were very telling.

"Thank you, Caroline." The hostess smiled. "And how are you?" Rebekah asked her niece.

"Your party is pretty, but I don't see any princesses." Margret shrugged. "Do you like my dress?" She twirled around, showing off her white-and-pink confection of an outfit, her tiny white Mary-Jane heels making a brief appearance.

"You look lovely, darling." Rebekah smiled. "There are some people who wish to meet you, Caroline. Brother, I assume you will take care of the introductions?" Things were still strained between Klaus and Rebekah after everything that had gone on, as was evidenced by his icy nod. "I have taken the liberty of acquiring the services of a nanny for this evening, so we can just send Margret off with her for some crafts and a book or two, and get on with the rest of the night."

Caroline's smile tightened, and Klaus's hand pressed gently on the small of her back, as if to tell her to hold herself together. "I apologize, Rebekah, but the nanny will not be necessary for some time."

"Excuse me?"

"We have decided to let Margret enjoy the party for one hour, until nine o'clock. After that, she will go to bed, and your nanny can keep an eye on her then. Surely, sister, you are not objecting to your darling niece enjoying the very party thrown in her honor?" Klaus asked, in that sarcastic-yet-charming way of his. To an ordinary person it would seem as if the siblings were just enjoying each other's company, but Caroline knew from personal experience of the over-arching power struggle going on. The siblings were in a cold war with each other: Rebekah did not want to step quite as far back from parenting as Klaus and Caroline wished, and it was still causing friction within the family. However, it appeared Rebekah was going to lose this one. She would not dare cause a scene during a party, after all.

The Original plastered a smile on her face. "Very well, brother. Now, I have some more guests to greet. Have a lovely time."

"Where is your brother?" Caroline asked as she and Klaus walked into Rebekah's living room, where the majority of the guests seemed to be milling about, Margret clutching onto the skirt of her gown.

"Bulgaria." He said. "Paying his last respects. Elijah will return when it pleases him." She nodded, a twinge of guilt appearing. After all, she had been the one to force Elijah into this grieving state, however accidental her actions may have been.

Caroline smiled when the three of them approached a small group, utilizing the best of her Miss Mystic charm to intertwine her way into this delicate society. The hierarchy was somewhat confusing among these vampires; at first it appeared to be the oldest were the best and most powerful, but now that she was immersed in it, Caroline could tell that the society was somewhat different. Instead, it appeared that the well-connected and resourceful were the ones favored by the Original Family, not necessarily the eldest vampires. Clearly, to be a favored one was important, due to the amount of metaphorical ass-kissing she saw to both Rebekah and Klaus. And herself, for that matter. There were even a few attempting to win over Margret, though Klaus quickly put a stop to that.

They eventually said goodnight to their daughter, sending her off with the compelled nanny. Margret had appeared to at least enjoy the party, and Klaus had explained to her the importance of showing a united front as a family, especially with a child in their midst. It was why Rebekah had backed down so easily; one wrong move could result in rumors of weakness, which, after their disappearance for five years, could not be afforded. It could put Margret in danger, and that was something none of them were willing to risk.

Margret's safety was not to be trifled with, especially when Caroline became aware that enemies were invited to soirees such as this, and not just the friends and the social climbers.

After spending too much time talking about offshore oil drilling under a false name with a not-very-charming older vampire, Caroline was relieved when Klaus whisked her into the temporary dance floor set up in the parlor.

"You appeared quite bored." Klaus raised an eyebrow as he twirled her, the gold and white fabric of her gown fanning out.

"I was." She countered, two steps closer to him than she stood the previous time they danced. "I can make polite conversation as well as the next person, but it gets tiring when I have _no idea_ what the other person is talking about."

"One of the downfalls of your new position." He said.

Caroline simply sighed and stepped closer, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I like this. Us. Being able to just dance and be together, without any interference. It's very nice."

"It certainly took long enough." Klaus deadpanned. "Six years, I believe?"

"Well, you were the one who was going to give me 'however long it takes'. You cannot complain about time." Caroline laughed, pulling back and facing him once more.

"Love, I was not really going to spend a century or more waiting. I fully planned on winning you over before then, come hell or high water." Klaus laughed, dimples flashing. "I am not a very patient man. Waiting is not my forte."

"I suppose it is a good thing, then, that I only planned on making you wait fifteen years." She continued on, entirely satisfied with the expression on his face. "My twenty year plan had me tracking you down after I went to every single state, got two doctorates, and spent a year indulging in selfish hedonism. I estimated it all to take about fifteen years. Now, of course things changed, and in a wonderful way, but I did not intend on making you wait _that_ long."

"You, sweetheart, are much more devious than anyone will ever give you credit for." Klaus smirked. He lowered his tone, whispering in her ear. "I quite enjoy it."

"Call it natural talent. I've always been ambitious."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Late that night, Caroline sat on the edge of Margret's bed in their home, still wearing her ball gown, heels discarded on the carpet. Her little daughter had been asleep for hours, and had not even woken up during the ride back, or on the way upstairs. The child had been changed out of her dress and into a nightgown, tucked in her bed, and now all that was left was a mother's thoughts. She could hear Klaus messing with something in the kitchen, but she would join him in a second. Moments like these with Margret were rare, now.

It had been nearly six years since Caroline's life had changed completely. If someone had told her what would happen in the early hours of that March morning, she would have laughed in their face. Six years ago, Klaus was put to the side after the promise he had made her, and his imminent child was a bitter stain in her thoughts. But then her life was literally turned upside down, Klaus became someone she was worrying over, and his child was not exactly ignorable anymore.

It was not the life Caroline would have chosen, but it was the life she got. Sometimes the best things come in the chaos, after all. At nineteen years old her twenty year plan was law, and she had certainly never imagined becoming a parent. But now, at twenty-five (yet eternally seventeen), her life had become so much more than she could have ever known. She was a mother, and her daughter was happy and knew she was loved. She was in love with someone who had proven his love above and beyond anything she could ask for. Her relationship with her mother was better than ever. She, Rebekah, and Elijah were still a bit of a mess, but they were all at least coming to a compromise. Margret had the family Caroline had always wished for her to have. Klaus was a better father than she had believed he could possibly be, dedicated to his child with a greater love than he had ever shown anyone.

Life before she ran into Rebekah had, admittedly, been quite idyllic. If it was possible, life had become even more so in the month or so since then.

Caroline would not a change a moment of her life for the world.

The End

* * *

**AN: So, how did you all like this final chapter? When it came to planning, not to mention my absentee muse, I ended up combining and warping the original chapters 11 and 12 into this one. It was to bring this story to an end, and I felt this was the proper ending for it.**

**I should have the oneshot/epilogue thingy up soon enough, and it will be posted separately. Also, for the fans of the ATCL 'verse, I've got a Kalijah oneshot set to appear under Visions of the Future, and I've begun work on their prequel story. It's going to be dark and bloody and angsty and I'm so excited to be working on it! **

**Thank you all for your support on this story; honestly, I am still blown away by all of it. I had intended for this to be a simple little hiatus fic to keep my muse going over the summer, and the fact that you all have seemed to love my random plot bunny so much... It's nearly beyond my comprehension. So, once again, thank you lovely readers for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. To us authors it truly means more than anyone could imagine.**

**With much love,**

**Abi **


End file.
